Popstar: Back to Basics
by Ottsel Cath
Summary: Ally Dawson, a seventeen-year-old pop sensation, was sent back to high school under a secret identity to correct her obnoxious attitude. Austin Moon was a senior going to that high school. Hatred was the first thing felt when they met. It did not help that they were forced to write a song together for their music class, but maybe, just maybe, it would bring them closer after all.
1. The Beginning

**Chapter 1  
The Beginning**

* * *

"Ah, Ally Dawson, please come in." Ronnie Ramone said to his most successful star.

"Ronnie. What a pleasure to see you." Ally Dawson responded from behind her 200$ sunglasses and up her five inch heels. "What owes me the pleasure of this urgent meeting?" She said clearly annoyed not even faking a smile.

"I wanted to talk about this." Ronnie said sternly as he reached for a magazine and holds it right in front of her eyes.

ALLY DAWSON SCREAMS AT A FAN AND TELLS HER TO FUCK OFF (Whole story inside)

"Who would write such atrocities and lies about me?" Ally asked obviously lying.

"Enough." Ronnie said loudly. "I'm tired of your attitude and your lack of respect."

"I do not have an attitude and I do not lack respect. People are lying." The seventeen-year-old popstar responded.

"They're not, Ally. I've seen you throw a fit about an interviewer not telling you how pretty you are or telling a fan to fuck off after they asked for an autograph." Ronnie explained obviously furious about her behavior.

"What are you gonna do about it? Fire me?" Ally asked sarcastically obviously annoyed by the meeting.

"Actually, I won't be producing your music until you behave yourself." Ronnie said seriously.

"That's funny Ronnie." Ally said laughing.

"I'm not joking. I just enrolled you into Marino High School under the name of Emma Jones." Ronnie said.

"You've got to be kidding me." Ally reacted. "You cannot do this to me. You know how much I hate regular people."

"That's exactly why I'm doing so." Ronnie stated. "What happened to the shy songwriter who loved music and wanted to share her talent with the world?"

"She's still there, but she's famous and is very successful." Ally said cockily with a proud smile.

"Maybe you weren't ready to be successful." Ronnie said.

"Maybe you're being unreasonable." She spat at the head of her record label.

"I'm not. Your manager and your parents also agree. From now on, you're called Emma and you're a regular senior at a high school." Ronnie said.

"I think you didn't think this through. People at that high school will recognize me instantly." She said proud of finding a loophole.

"That's why I'll send you a stylist that is going to disguise you." Ronnie said.

"What?" She exclaimed.

"Your first day of school is the day after tomorrow. Have fun." Ronnie said smirking.

"You'll regret this." She warned her boss. "I can always just expose myself and then I'll have to leave the high school."

"Actually. I don't care if you exposed yourself. You are still going to that school whether you call yourself Emma Jones or Ally Dawson. It will only be harder for you if you expose yourself." Ronnie said to the annoyed popstar.

* * *

"Why do you even read this?" Austin Moon asked one of his two best friends, Trish de la Rosa. "You know these magazines are all lies and about stupid people."

She was holding a magazine which the cover said ALLY DAWSON SCREAMS AT A FAN AND TELLS HER TO FUCK OFF (Whole story inside).

"I know Austin. You've told me before, but it's entertaining." She responded to her blond friend.

"I don't understand how you find this entertaining. That whole magazine is just about that stupid Ally girl and all of the bad things she's done. She's like the worst pop star ever. She's a bitch and you encourage her by buying magazines about her." Austin explained angrily.

"She might be a total bitch, but her music is good." Trish defended.

"I'm never going to listen to someone's music if they are not respectful of their fans and of people in general. I'm never going to listen to her music." Austin explained a bit more calmly.

"You were listening to her when her first album came out." Trish pointed out proud since it left her best friend speechless for a couple of seconds.

Austin opened and closed his mouth a couple of times to say something, but nothing came out.

"I don't understand why you hate her so much. She's just another pop star." Trish defended.

"When she first became popular, she had raw talent. She wrote her own songs and was recognized for her hard work. Now, she abandoned all of that and became a bitch. I could only wish to be able to write songs like that." Austin said to Trish.

"Anyway." Trish said awkwardly. "How was your weekend?" Trish asked to lighten up the mood.

"Okay I guess. Dez and I played video games for five hours straight and it was awesome. Oh, and I might have tried to write a song." Austin explained to Trish.

"Are they getting any better?" Trish asked.

"No. I suck at song writing and nobody seems to be able to help me." Austin sighed.

"Maybe one day Austin. At least you can still pretty much play every instrument, can sing and are an amazing dancer." Trish said to cheer Austin up.

"Thanks Trish." Austin said to his Latina friend. "But that is still not going to help me pass music class. I need to write an amazing song, otherwise I won't pass."

"You can create the melody, but not the lyrics, right?" Trish asked Austin.

"Pretty much." Austin answered her.

"Then find someone who can write lyrics." Trish tried to reason him.

"Easier said than done." Austin answered.

"What's up guys?" Dez said as he sat next to them at the small café they were in. It was called the ocean café since it was near the beach.

"Oh, hey Dez." Trish said slightly looking away with rosy cheeks. Austin knew she had a crush on Dez even if she never told him. It was just the way she acted around him. It was showing. He also knew for a fact that Dez kind of had a crush on her too. He did tell him though.

"Waddup" Dez and Austin did their famous handshake.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" Dez asked.

"How hopeless I am at writing songs." Austin said looking a bit said.

"Come on. They're not that bad. You just need to find the right inspiration." Dez tried to comfort his friend.

"I'm sure that if you had a girlfriend, you'd be able to write love songs." Dez said enthusiastically.

"I don't think so. I don't have it when it comes to song writing." Austin sighed.

He had tried multiple times to write songs, but they were always awful. He had a lot of talents when it came to music, but song writing wasn't one of them. He's always dreamed of becoming a pop sensation and to release his own album, but he couldn't do it, just like he couldn't write that stupid song for his stupid music class. It was the most important assignment of the year and he needed to have a good grade. Austin wanted to make it to the Music University of New York, but he needed to show them that he was the real deal.

"I'm going home." Austin announced to his two best friends.

"Why? It's still early. Don't be such a party pooper." Trish said.

"Our first class starts in fifteen hours and I want to try and write that stupid song again." He explained and then he sighed.

"Alright. See you tomorrow Buddy." Dez said.

Austin exited the small café and started to walk home. Honestly, he was feeling a bit down because of people like Ally Dawson. He could only dream of being as talented as her and she let it go to waste. He wanted a career where people would hear his own songs not a career where he's a jerk. He was slowly losing faith in humanity.

* * *

Ally was sitting on her bed in her new apartment. Apparently, the school Ronnie enrolled her in wasn't even in California. It was in Florida and in Miami to be precise. She loved that she lived near the beach, but she hated the fact that she had to live like a normal human being. She couldn't believe Ronnie, her parents and her manager would do that to her. She always brought them to fancy dinners and bought them expensive gifts. Was that not a good way to show them that she cared about them? She thought it was, but for them, it wasn't. They just wanted the old Ally back; the one that write her own songs, couldn't hurt a fly and loved to socialize with her fans. The Ally Dawson that actually appreciated her fans and enjoyed making music.

Ronnie sent Ally to Miami alone, well, almost, every morning and every night, a stylist would come to her apartment to disguise her and then to take the disguise off. So, basically, she was pretty much alone. She always was a bit of a loner, well, since her career started. She doesn't have any real friends. She has fake ones only used to make it seems like she is having the time of her life with her amazing squad, but they were all actors.

She had a best friend before she climbed her way to the top, but fame got to her head and she forgot about her. Her best friend's name was Piper. She was a really sweet and nice girl and everyone liked her. Although, when Ally released her first album, she got sucked up in the popstar world and never spoke to Piper again.

She had tried to call her a couple of times at the beginning of her career, but she never answered. The last time she tried to call her, she was informed by a man that the family that lived under that phone number had moved and that they weren't living in California anymore. She never found a way to contact Piper again, not even by Facebook.

She was really alone and the people that were the closest to her pushed her away. They believed it would help find her old self and make her behave again. This was a real nightmare for her.

She got up from her bed and walked to the bay window in her room. The apartment wasn't the biggest one, but it was pretty decent for one person. It had one bedrooms, a small music room, a huge living room, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a dining room. She was used to bigger houses and more fancy rooms like a spa room or a cinema room, but this was okay for her.

She looked out the window and stared at the beach. It was very pretty and she couldn't wait to hit it later. She secretly hoped she'd find real people to hang out with her out there under her new nemesis. Emma Jones. It still sounded weird to her. Why give her an alter ego? Why not just resign her contract? She didn't know which one was worst actually.

* * *

Austin was walking towards the entrance of the school to join his two best friends. They would always meet at the cafeteria before classes started to hang out a bit.

"Hey stranger." Trish greeted her best friend.

"Dez is not here yet?" Austin asked.

"No." She answered her blond friend.

"So, did you magically come up with a song last night?" Trish asked him.

"No. I can't find inspiration. This is so frustrating." He answered honestly.

"You'll get it. Eventually." Trish said to encourage Austin.

"I need a miracle." Austin said.

"Hey guys." Dez said as he approached his two best friends.

"Oh, hey." Austin responded.

"So, did you see the new girl?" Dez asked.

"There's a new girl?" Trish asked confused.

"Yeah. Her name's Emma. I think." Dez said to his friends. "Oh, there she is."

As a matter of fact, a very pretty blonde walked in the cafeteria. Well they could see her through the glass door and she looked annoyed. She looked lime she was waiting for something.

"Aren't you going to open the door for me?" She asked annoyed to the boy standing the closest to her.

"You have arms. You can do it." The boy said and he walked away.

"Ugh." Ally groaned and everyone could hear her.

She walked into the cafeteria and waited near a chair that wasn't too far from Austin.

"Aren't you going to pull it for me?" She asked Austin.

"Let me think about it." Austin said as he put his index and his thumb on his chin to fake thinking. "No."

"Why doesn't everyone do as I say?" Ally asked looking directly into Austin's eyes.

"Maybe because we are not your fucking slaves?" Austin spat sarcastically.

"Language." Ally responded. "Do you not know who you're talking to?"

"Hum, an angsty teenage girl who thinks the world is wrapped around her finger." Trish scoffed.

Then, the trio stood up and proceeded to exit the cafeteria.

"What a bitch." Trish muttered and the two boys agreed. That new girl was definitely something.

Ally, on the other hand, was frozen there, but she was fuming with rage.

Why on Earth would her parents, her manager and her record label do that to her? This was going to be torture for her.

One thing was for sure; to blend in, she needed friends. Maybe she would try to befriend the trio she just met. Maybe they were bearable after all. Who knows?

* * *

"Alright class, I know you all know the biggest assignment of the year is coming, so I chose your partner for it. I tried to balance the teams so one of the member would be good with melodies and the other one with the lyrics. I know some of you already prepared yourselves for this and already started writing the song, but I thought it would be easier in teams." The music teacher said to the class Austin was in.

The new girl was in that class too. Austin never thought someone as bitchy as her would actually have any musical talent, but then he remembered Ally Dawson. He never would have expected that they were actually the same person though.

The teacher announced each team one by one and made sure everyone understood who their partner was. Austin was hoping to have Gavin Young as his partner. They were opposite: Gavin is hopeless with melodies, but incredible when it comes to lyrics.

"Finally, Austin Moon and Emma Jones." The teacher announced and Austin sunk in his chair.

Was he really going to be stuck with a bitch like her for a project that was worth so much? Yes, yes he was.

The teacher asked everyone to find their partner so they could discuss about the music they want to create.

Austin walked over to Ally -Emma-, and he sat beside her.

"I'm Austin." He said to her nonchalantly.

"Our song is going to be fantastic." Ally said to Austin.

"I believe you are good at writing lyrics?" Austin asked her with a tiny little bit of hope.

"I'm good at everything when it comes to music." Ally answered cockily. Great, Austin thought to himself. Not only did she think the world was wrapped around her finger, she also thought she was the most incredible person that ever existed.

"I guess we should meet to work on the song." Austin told the blond.

"Probably." Ally said. "How about we meet at your place tonight?"

"Are you inviting yourself over?" Austin asked her almost annoyed.

"Well, the maid is cleaning the house tonight, so it won't be calm enough to write a song. I need to be completely focused to write an amazing song." Ally answered the boy who she thought was actually really cute.

"Fine." Austin said defeated. "Here is my address."

Austin handed the girl a piece of paper with his address on it. "Be there at seven."

After that, Austin ended his conversation with the walking Barbie and left the classroom wince the bell rang.

Austin was only wondering one thing: what did he do to deserve this?

* * *

 **Alright, so you guys just read the first chapter of a new story I decided to write. I am really excited about this one. It is not going to be as long as my other Austin and Ally multichapter stories. I expect it to be between 10 and 15 chapters. Let me know what you guys thought of the first chapter and thank you so much for taking time to read this. I really hope you enjoyed it.**

 **If you are interested, I have also written three other Auslly multi-chapter stories and two Auslly one-shot**

 **Here are the summaries:**

 **There is Always Sun After the Rain:** Ally was a very successful elite gymnast until an accident changed her life. She was forced to attend high school instead of being homeschooled. She decided that it was better to lie to everyone there about her injury, because she was embarrassed of failing at the only thing she was good at. Nothing good ever comes out of a lie, but maybe a certain blond will help her through it.

 **Secret Identity:** Austin always wished of a better life. He hated living at the bottom of the ocean. He wanted a real life, so he decided to run away and live on land. He decided to attend a high school where he met new people, but magic got involved pretty quickly and changed lives pretty quickly. At some point, he wished he never put a foot on land. **  
**

 **The Boy Behind the Mask:** Ally's life was turned upside down when her parents decided to move from Miami to Québec City, but especially when she met a mysterious teenage boy who's angry and bitter about something. She's the good girl and she wants to help him. The only problem? He's the bad boy and he doesn't want her to help him.

 **Repeating Days:** Austin is coming back from touring Europe a little early to surprise Ally for their two-year anniversary as a couple, but things didn't go as planned and started to fall apart. Will they solve their issues? One-shot. OOC. Based on Repeating Days by R5.

 **The Ice Cream Parlor:** Under the request of her dad, Ally had to apply to get a job at an ice cream parlor even if she hated the idea of working there. Her idea about that job might have changed after she met the beautiful (and single) assistant manager who couldn't seem to get his eyes of her. (One-shot)


	2. Trying to Get Along

**Chapter 2  
Trying to Get Along**

* * *

Austin walked out of music class on that fateful day with more than a frown on his face. He was actually quite angry at this whole situation. Sure, he did not really know Emma -Ally-, but she seemed like a total obnoxious and princessy teenage girl whose father is loaded. How could he tell? He could tell by the 200$ sunglasses that were lying on her perfectly curled and fixed hair. It looked like a stylist did this and the same applies for her clothes and her makeup. It seemed like she was trying to look like one of those Hollywood stars and it disgusted Austin. He was hoping to work with a simple person or a simple girl; someone who appreciates the little things in life like nature's beauty, how music can make you feel certain emotions or tell you a story. She seemed like a stuck up brat who cared about nothing but herself to Austin. If he just knew who she actually was, it would prove that his impressions about her are actually true.

The blonde teenage boy walked to the cafeteria where he sat to meet his two best friends. They always did this between classes so they could wind down a bit and talk about funny stuff that happened during their class. The all had English together next and he was really happy about that.

He sighed as he sat down and tried to think of a way to make his partnership with Emma work. He would have to supress all of his resentment towards her so they could actually write a decent song. He knew she was his only chance to pass this class, and it pissed him off so much. He tried to tell himself that she won't be that bad and that they will actually get along, but every time he tells himself that, he remembers how she almost told another classmate off because he would not open a door for her.

"Hey, stranger." Dez said as he sat in front of his best mate. Austin looked up and sighed heavily. "What's wrong?"

It was obvious that Austin had something on his mind from the face he was making and how he almost ignored her best friend. As he was about to answer the redhead that was sitting beside him, his other best friend, Trish, sat down across from him.

"You know how I have to write that stupid song for that stupid music class?" Austin asked the redhead and the Latina. They both nodded as a response. "Well, turns out I have to write it with Mrs The World Is Wrapped Around My Little Finger."

Trish nodded to indicate she understands his problem while Dez just looked genuinely confused. That was his normal state though, and they were both used to it.

"Who?" Dez finally asked the blonde.

"The new girl, Emma." Austin sighed and Dez suddenly realized why his friend was so down.

"I'm sorry." He said in compassion.

"Maybe she won't be as bad as she seems." Trish said to Austin trying to make him feel better even though she knew it would not work.

"You're the one who called her a bitch, remember?" Austin asked his Latina friend.

That was enough to keep the three friends quiet until the bell rang for their next class. They crossed path with Ally as they walked and she did not even acknowledge them. It was like they did not even exist. Actually, she was walking like a model would walk down a runaway. She did not make eye contact with anyone and she did not hesitate to push people that were in her way.

Not as bad as she seems? Austin sure hoped she would turn out alright.

* * *

Ally exited her first high school class ever -music- fuming with rage. Did she really have to create a song with a boy who would not ply under her demands? She just wanted to fly away to China and never come back.

She hated everything about high school so far: the teachers, the students, the place, the lockers, name it. She resented her parents, her label and her manager even more now. If Ronnie dropped her from the label, she would have been able to get a record deal somewhere else and she would have much preferred that. It would have been easier for her and less angered would have been created in her soul.

The blond wig she was wearing itched like crazy and it was super uncomfortable. Even though she supposedly had one of the best stylists in L.A., she still felt like what she looked like was awful. She was transformed into a blond with blue eyes that wore cheap clothes. She refused to let go of her sunglasses and her heels. She felt more comfortable in those and she felt more like herself even if she was supposed to dissimulate that person.

When she realized she would have to write that song with a partner, she never thought they would have to meet outside of school. She will have to endure the masquerade for a lot more than school hours. She also realized she could not bring the boy to her place either or he would realize she's not really a high school senior. That is why she immediately suggested that they meet at his place despite how much she dreaded it.

"Watch it." She hissed at a freshman whose shoulder lightly brushed hers.

Ally was walking towards the bathroom to refresh her makeup, but she was walking in such a determine way that she had to push a couple of people out of her way to make sure she would not bump into someone and maybe even trip.

Once she arrived at her destination, she locked herself in one of the stalls to do her business.

Even popstars have to do things like that. Well, that's what Ally thought to herself.

While she was there though, she heard two or maybe three girls talk and it made her curious about their conversation.

"She thinks she's the queen of the world." A girl with a squeaky voice said. "She shoved me out of her way just so she could get in the classroom before me."

"I don't know who she thinks she is, but she's not going to make any friends if she keeps that attitude. She is such a bitch." Another voice, a raspier one, said.

"Plus, she is the new girl. She should not act like she owns this school." The first voice said.

The only thing Ally thought about was if they were talking about her. She was the only new girl at that time of the year after all. Who starts a new school in November anyway?

"I hate her. She is a bitch." Another voice said. Ally did not recognize, but it was the second time that day someone called her a bitch. One of the blonde's friends called her that too earlier that day. She was already getting sick of it. She was sick of how people had a lack of respect for her and called her names like that when all she did was being herself. She did nothing wrong. Well, that's what she thought.

"She is going to get on Brooke's bad side and when that happens, she'll wish she never switched schools." The first voice said. Ally rolled her eyes. She already wished she never came to this hideous school.

Now, all that was on her mind was trying to get along with that stupid boy for that stupid music project and who that Brooke girl actually is. She knew she would ace that project though. She was a natural when it came to music and she knew she was really talented. Everyone thought so when she was first discovered.

It all started three years ago because of that nice social media called Youtube. That's where people first heard her voice and fell in love with her unique talent. She used to cover lots of songs and upload them to that website. Millions of people watched her videos, but one of them caught the public's eyes. She covered the song 'Call Me Maybe', but she turned it into a jazzy song. In an hour, there were already more than a million views. It all happened, because Carly Rae Jepsen herself tweeted about that cover saying how awesome it was. Ally was then invited to numerous talk show to perform the song. Not long after, she was offered a record deal by Ronnie Ramone that she accepted eagerly. Her dreams were coming true.

She wrote her first album alone using nothing, but her imagination, a guitar and a pen. All of her songs were acoustic and she played most of the instruments heard on the album. Everyone fell in love with her original music and she sold more than a million albums in a minimal time. Her songs were overplayed on the radio, but no one cared, because they loved them.

When she released her second album, fame got to her head. She knew she was great and that people loved her, so she started acting like she was one of the most talented singers that ever existed. She started acting up and pissing everyone off. She had released a third album the previous year, but the sales dropped dramatically. People noticed that she was acting very self-centered and only cared about fame, so they stopped buying her music. That was another reason why Ronnie forced her to take a break from the Hollywood world. He more than hoped that she would realize that how she had been acting was incredibly wrong and would turn a new life. He expects her to comeback with a new attitude that would help her create an amazing album that will higher the sales.

* * *

Austin was currently sitting in his living room trying to think about a melody for the song he was supposed to create with Ally. Miss Dawson was a no-show, as so he thought. It was 8:15 and he asked her to arrive at seven, so he was a bit shocked and very annoyed when she knocked on the door at 8:30.

"You're late." Austin said as he opened the door to reveal the petite blonde. "An hour and a half late to be precise."

"Hello to you too." Ally responded sarcastically, but she was just really annoyed by his attitude towards her. Did he not know about respect?

"What are you doing here?" Austin asked insinuating that she should not have come to his place if she knew she was going to be so late.

"I'm here to work on the song, remember?" Ally asked. "Or maybe that little head of yours did not remember?"

"Fine, let's work on the song, but next time, we're doing this after school." Austin stated seriously while Ally just scoffed at his comment.

"Do you have to act like that?" Austin asked in annoyance." Can we just put our differences aside for that stupid song?"

"You are the one who started it." Ally answered and Austin ignored her comment. God, he had no idea how he would put up with her for that stupid song.

Austin took Ally to the living room where a piano sat against the wall. The piano was not a quality piano, but it will do the job for what needs to be done. They were not trying to write a concerto after all.

"You expect me to work with that old thing?" Ally scoffed. She was used to work with quality instruments, not antiquities like she would put it.

"Are you going to judge everything I have and I do? We have a song to write here." Austin answered and Ally did not respond.

The talked about what the song would be about, but they were bickering a little too much. Austin wanted it to be an upbeat and happy song, while Ally wanted it to be an emotional song. They were also bickering, because Ally kept saying that she knew more about songwriting than Austin, so they should follow her ideas. Austin tried to convince her to tell him how she supposedly knows way more about music than him, but she just closed off. He felt like that was weird, but everything about that girl was beyond weird and annoying.

He showed her the melodies he had worked so hard on, but she would not even consider them. She showed him a couple of melodies that could be interesting to develop for the project, but Austin rejected them all, only to mimic her. Austin thought the melodies were actually good, but he felt the need to piss her off. You could say there was a lot of tension between them and who could blame them? There were so different.

"Do you have to act like you're the queen of the world?" Austin asked her as she tried once again to convince him to do things his way.

"Do you have to be so stubborn?" Ally asked in annoyance.

"I'm not stubborn, you don't listen to a word I am saying." Austin retorted the popstar.

That was only a part of a small argument they have had. They have had much bigger argument. Austin had insulted Emma -Ally- and she had insulted him many times. Ally really hated the life she was forced to have. Usually, she would write the songs all by herself or songwriters would do it for her, but she would never work with them to avoid fights like the ones she was having with Austin.

Austin, normally, had no problems working in a team with someone else, but now, this was plain torture. He tried, he really did try to understand her point of view, but she was so annoying and self-centered. She really got under his skin and he had no idea why.

He got under her skin and she thought it was because she hated normal people, but she could never have been more wrong.

At some point, Ally stood up in utterly annoyed and walked to the nearest window to look outside.

"God, I hate this place." She murmured to herself, but Austin heard the words she spoke.

"Why?" Austin said as he walked up to hear and stood beside her in front of the window.

"Let's just say it was never my choice to come here." She admitted to the boy whose mood and expression had softened.

"How come?" Austin asked genuinely curious about this. Maybe she was a bitch, because she did not choose to switch schools or something.

"My parents thought that it was best for me." Ally answered and she was scared of how the words flowed out of her mouth like Austin was actually her friend or something.

"Oh." Austin said. He did not know what to say to her now, so he just stared at a woman talking a walk with her newborn outside.

"Right, let's just work on the song now." Ally said trying to ignore the knot in her stomach.

"Actually, it's getting late." Austin mentioned and it was dark outside after all. "We should resign to work on this after school tomorrow."

"Okay." Austin simply answered.

"If you want my advice-" Ally tried to say, but she was cut by Austin's annoyed voice.

"Here we go again." He said sarcastically as he rolled his perfect hazel eyes.

"Come on, hear me out. I just wanted to give you advice about songwriting." She said. "But you are clearly not interested."

Austin was surprised at how her voice sounded both calm and angry at the same time. That girl sure was a phenomenon.

"Fine." Austin plied to Ally.

"I believe you struggle with the lyrics." She said. "Don't force lyrics out of your head. The more you write on the impulse, the better the lyrics are. You have to stop thinking about it too much."

"Thanks." Austin answered her. He was a bit confused that she actually tried to help him though.

"Bye, Austin." She said to him as she opened the door.

"Bye, Emma." He told her right before she closed the door in front of him.

Austin kept replaying her words in his mind. He did not quite understand what she meant. How was he supposed to not think about it when he needed to think about it to write lyrics down? This was going to be more complicated than he thought, but at least they were not arguing when Ally left.

* * *

 ***If you guys have a synonym for annoyance, please tell me in the reviews :)**

 **Hey Guys! I really wanted to publish a new chapter before I start university tomorrow. I am actually a bit nervous since it is my first year there. Anyway, this chapter is not my favorite one, because what's to come is more interesting, but I still hoped you guys enjoyed it. I liked writing the bickering between Austin and Ally. Everything written in this chapter is actually important to the plotline, so make sure to not miss out on anything ;)**

 **I love you all. Peace out :)**


	3. Brooke

**Chapter 3  
** **Brooke**

* * *

Ally was comfortably sitting on the sofa in her apartment with a guitar gently resting on her laps. It was two a.m. and she could not sleep. She was scribbling down lyrics in a small notebook with a pink gel pen. For some unknown reasons, she's had quite a lot of inspiration in the last couple of days for lyrics. She was actually hoping that these songs would make it on her next album, if Ronnie changes his mind and realizes how stupid he's been of course. That was what Ally thought.

What bothered her was that the lyrics were not about being angry or hateful since that's what she felt most of time while living in Miami. The lyrics were more about how alone she felt and how living alone in Miami made her realize that she should try to have friends. Some other lyrics were also about looking for that one person to change your life, but she did not exactly understand how she came up with those. She had no one to talk to. Back in Los Angeles, she would talk to her fake friends and it made her feel like she had real ones.

After scribbling down a couple of lyrics, Ally took the guitar and put it back on its stand and pressed power on the TV remote. One of her guilty pleasure was watching celebrity gossip show. Especially since they talked about her in almost every of them.

"What has happened to Ally Dawson?" The host asked rhetorically and it immediately caught her attention. "Why has she disappeared from the media for the last two weeks?"

Another host walked in to answer all of those questions.

"Well, sources reported that Miss Dawson had overused illegal substances and is now in rehab to fix her addiction."

"Interesting."

"Another source is also stating that Miss Dawson got fired from her label for destroying a recording booth while throwing a tantrum, because she was not satisfied with the work of the employees of the said-label."

Ally was actually quite shocked to hear that. Yes, she knew that she was Hollywood's bad girl, but none of what was said was true. She has never, ever used drugs and she had never destroyed properties. It was true that she threw tantrums before, but they were never more than screaming insults.

She threw the remote as far as she could angrily. It hit the wall and the batteries fell on the ground.

"Ughh." Ally grunted. "Why do people always expect the worst of me?"

Maybe because you've been acting like a bitch ever since you got famous. Her mind echoed.

Suddenly, every bad thing she has ever done came back to her mind. How she screamed at numerous interviewers, how she told fans off, how she treated her loved ones like they were trash. Somehow, she knew that was a way of protecting herself. By not letting others get to her, she won't get hurt. Those are the words she's lived by. She thought she was acting like she needed to. For her, her actions were acceptable and necessary.

After she got ready in the morning, she walked to school. She was getting the hang of her routine: waking up, showering, letting the stylists do her job, eating breakfast and walking to school. The school was not too far from her apartment, and since she liked the fresh salty air, she liked to walk to school. That might have been the only thing she liked about Miami so far.

After entering the school, she walked straight to the cafeteria to sit down and scribble some more lyrics in her brown book. There was only one obstacle in her way: Brooke.

She happened to cross paths with the queen be. Ally had no idea who she was, so she did like she's always done and brushed pass her.

Brooke, on the other hand, needed to make a statement.

"If it isn't the new girl." Brooke spat as she looked at Ally and her style.

Ally did not even bother to look up.

"I have a name, you know." Ally spat not knowing she was talking to the number one bitch.

"I'm not going to bother learning it." Brooked answered.

While the two girls were bickering and arguing, Trish, Austin and Dez walked in the cafeteria and sat down not too far from the girls.

"Trish, why do you want to sit so close to those brats?" Austin asked his Latina friend.

"Because it's going to be entertaining." Trish answered with a smirk and Austin rolled his eyes while Dez tried to understand what was going on. "Think about it, two brats arguing. This is going to be great."

"I just wanted to warn you." Brooke told the fake blonde and that sentence made her look up at Brooke.

"About what?" Ally asked curiously and with a smirk. She was not intimidated at all by that brat. She should be intimidated by Ally.

"This." Brooke said gesturing all around her. "Is my school. So stop acting like it is yours."

"Your school, huh?" Ally asked. "Because people seem to like you so much, Brooke."

"I'm not here to be liked, I'm here to be feared." Brooke answered trying to sound clever.

"The only thing scary about you is your clothes and maybe your hair or is it your makeup?" Ally answered with a smirk. Both girls heard a couple of people scoffing and laughing not far from them. For a second, Ally's eyes crossed Austin's and somehow, she wanted to impress him.

"Whatever." Brooke said trying to hid the fact that she was already speechless. "You better behave yourself, Emma, or something bad might happen to you."

"Like what?" Ally scoffed. "You're going to tell daddy someone is being mean to you? Or are you going to keep insulting me? Because that would be so effective."

"You'll wish you've never insulted me." Brooke said trying to sound menacing.

"There is just one problem, that would mean I would actually have to care just one tiny bit about your stupid self, which I don't." Ally snickered and Trish laughed pretty loudly.

"Ugh." Brooked grunted and she walked away angrily.

"One point for me." Ally told herself smiling as she looked at Austin from the corner of her eyes. She noticed he was laughing silently and she was glad she made him laugh.

"That was awesome." Trish said as she walked up to Ally. "No one stood up to Brooke before."

"Thanks." Ally answered.

"I guess your short temper can be useful sometimes." Trish told the fake blonde.

"Sometimes." Austin said not even looking up at the girls. He knew Ally knew exactly why he repeated that word.

"Listen, I know we did not make a lot of progress when we worked on the song last time, but I've had a few ideas." Ally told the blonde who was quite uninterested by what she was saying, because he felt like she wanted to write the whole song without asking for what he thinks.

"Why don't you just write the song by yourself then?" Austin asked a bit irritated.

"Austin." Dez scolded.

"No, Dez, you don't understand, she won't listen to a thing I say and she thinks only her ideas are good." Austin defended himself and Ally felt some sort of weight drop in her chest.

"Austin, I promise I'll listen to your ideas." Ally told the teenage boy.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Austin asked referring to the fact that this was in fact an assignment and that he needed to work with her.

"So, I'll see you in the music room right after school?" Ally asked the boy.

"Yeah, whatever." Austin answered not even looked at the girl with the wig.

After that last statement, Ally realized that it was no use for her to stay there, it would only make Austin despise her even more. She did not necessarily want to become his friend, but they needed to get along to get a good grade.

"What was that all about?" Trish asked her best friend raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Austin asked clearly confused. He did not even know what she was talking about.

"With Emma." Trish said. "You barely even looked at her and you were being an ass."

"That's what she deserves." Austin answered simply, but Trish was far from convinced.

"She was being genuinely nice and you ignored it." Trish said to the blonde.

"I don't think there is anything genuine about her. You're the one who thought she was a bitch." Austin said.

"I think it's something more." Trish told Austin.

"I was just returning the favor. She's been an ass when we first tried to work together, so now it was my turn." Austin answered.

"And that confirms my theory." Trish exclaimed happily clapping her hands. Dez looked at her utterly confused.

Austin raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"There is a lot of tension between you guys and you know exactly what kind of tension." Trish said, but Austin stayed quiet. He had no idea what she was talking about or maybe he did, but he did not necessarily agree with her.

"What kind?" Dez asked innocently.

"The sexual kind." Trish answered.

"You think I'm attracted to her?" Austin asked completely shocked.

"I don't think. I know." Trish answered and Austin was speechless.

"Trish, I can't stand the girl." Austin answered.

"I did not say you were in love with her. I said you were attracted to her." Trish corrected the blonde.

"What's the difference?" Austin asked the curly haired girl.

"The difference is that sometime, you'll both need to release that tension and I'll be there to tell you I told you so." Trish answered happily.

"I'm never gonna live this down, am I?" Austin asked.

"Nope." Trish answered.

* * *

Ally was sitting on the piano bench in the music room of the school and she was playing different melodies. She was waiting for Austin to arrive so she could show him the lyrics she came up with. She was really inspired and she really hoped Austin would like her ideas. Of course, she had ulterior motives, she wanted those songs to be on her next album.

She heard the door squeal and her head snapped around. She noticed the familiar mop of blonde hair that looked exhausted.

"Hi." Ally greeted him innocently.

"Hey." Austin answered.

During the day, Trish kept pestering Austin about actually trying to be nice to Ally. She kept telling him that she was genuine in the morning and that she was trying to be nice, so he should too.

She motioned for him to join her on the piano bench and he did so even though he was not pleased, at all. He would rather sit on another chair to be farther from her. He was actually scared that she would blow up and slap him or something. They were so close their thighs were actually brushing and he did not know how that made him him.

"So." Austin said awkwardly.

"Right." Ally said snapping out of her thoughts. "I had a lot of inspiration last night and I came up with a few lyrics."

"Can I read them?" Austin asked the girl reaching out for the brown book sitting on the top of the piano.

"Don't touch my book." Ally warned him. She wrote all of her songs in there and she would not want him to see the songs she's written as Ally and were actually on her albums.

She took the brown book in her hands and displayed it on the right pages right in front of Austin so he would not have to touch it.

"Was that really necessary?" Austin asked. "I'm pretty capable of turning pages."

Ally ignored his comment. "Just read the damn lyrics."

Austin looked inside the mysterious brown book and he saw scribbles here and there on the pages.

"Stumbling through the crowd, feet lifting off the ground, looking for you." **(1)** Austin read out loud.

Ally looked at him expecting any sorts of comments, even if they were bad.

"These are actually pretty good." Austin said and he was shocked by his own words.

"Thanks." Ally answered genuinely.

"Is this, like, you're looking for your parents or your friends who you lost in a crowd or a metaphor for, like, looking for the one person that's going to change your life?" Austin asked actually interested in her answer.

At that moment, Ally was a bit shy about the true meanings of the lyrics. Every time she shared her own lyrics with someone, she felt naked, like they could see what's going on in her were really personal for her and she had no idea why she actually shared them with Austin. They could just write a meaningless song, but the melody would still be incredible.

"The latter." Ally answered looking at the ground.

"Is it because you're here?" Austin asked genuinely interested in what Ally had to say.

"What do you mean?" Austin asked the pop star.

"Is because you don't like being here?" Austin asked.

"Kind of." Ally answered honestly as she looked up at him. "I've never felt more alone in my entire life."

"So that's what you meant." Austin thought aloud.

"What?" Ally asked confused.

"You told me lyrics were better when they're related to emotions and written on impulse." Austin answered the girl.

"That's true." Ally answered with a faint smile.

"Why don't you show me the melody?" Austin asked smiling.

Ally breathed in and looked away from Austin's beautiful hazel eyes and looked at the keys on the piano. She started to play the melody she imagined for the song and when she was finally ready, she sang the couple of lyrics she had written down.

Austin looked at her utterly and completely shocked. He did not expect her to be that talented. Not only could she play piano, but she also had an amazing voice.

"Austin, you're staring." Ally said a couple of seconds after she stopped playing.

"Sorry." He said shaking his head. "I never expected you to have such an amazing voice."

For the first time in forever, Ally blushed at his comment, so she immediately looked away.

"What did you think of the song?" Ally asked the blonde. Austin looked away slightly, because he did have things to say, but he did not want to angry her for the millionth time.

"I" Austin started to say. "Huh."

"Just say it, I won't bite." Ally demanded.

"Well, I think the lyrics are great, but it should be sung on the major key. It will sound more energetic and upbeat." Austin explained carefully scared of her reaction.

"Let's try it." Ally said. "Why don't you play?"

Austin put his hands on the keys and positioned them on the right ones. After breathing in and a couple of seconds, he finally played the chords that fitted the song better.

After feeling comfortable, Ally started to sing adapting her voice to the new sound of the song. She even decided to add a melody of her own by playing some keys, but the whole thing blended together incredibly.

The two of them got lost in the music. Even though they weren't singing anything, they created a melody for the song along the way and it sounded beautiful.

After playing for about a minute, their hands brushed and they both stopped playing the piano looking away as fast as they pulled their hands away.

This situation made them both feel incredibly awkward. For a couple of minutes, none of them said a word and they both looked at everything except each other.

Both of them experienced a new feeling by that simple, yet alarming touch. It made a bolt of energy run through Austin's entire body and he was incredibly concern about it. Trish could not be right, could she?

As of Ally, she somehow liked what it made her feel. She could not exactly comprehend what she felt, but the tingling feeling of Austin's hands against hers was still present and it made her want more. Maybe it was just the fact that, as a pop star, she's never had a true relationship with a boy and she just wanted to feel that intimacy.

Eventually, they both looked at each other, but none of them spoke. Austin decided to start playing the piano again and Ally just listened. He was playing the melody they've just played.

"It sounds amazing." Ally said as if the awkward silence never happened.

"Thank you." Austin answered sincerely, because he knew that Ally was being genuine.

"For the pre-chorus part that I started to write, I was thinking it could go like: stumbling through the crowd, feet lifting off the ground, looking for you, washing my fear away, standing here face to face, nothing to lose." Ally told the blonde.

"That sounds fantastic, Emma." Austin said. "How about you sing it like you imagined it."

Ally did exactly as she was asked while Austin played the piano, again. She, on the other hand, made sure to not touch the keys, so their hands would not touch again.

As Ally finished singing the lines she added to the pre-chorus, Austin started to sing and added a line.

"I won't back now."

He stopped playing and looked at Ally.

"I'm gonna write that down before I forget it." Ally said as she scribbled the words Austin added in her off limits brown leather book.

When she put her pink gel pen down, she spoke again.

"I think we should call it a day." Ally said almost, almost disappointed.

"Yeah, it's getting late." Austin added to Ally's words. "But we did choose the melody and we wrote the pre-chorus."

"Yeah." Ally said.

She did not know why she felt like he felt, but she did not want to leave that music room. Somehow, writing a simple, but heartfelt song with Austin made her feel like when she was just discovered: full of talent and motivation. She was feeling like she was going back to her origins, like she could be herself, not Ally Dawson, the pop star and that scared her, so, so much.

* * *

 **Hey guys, thank you all so much for reading this new story, it really means a lot to me. I also want to thank everyone for the favorites, follows andn reviews. You have no idea how that enlightens my day. You are all awesome readers. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know it might seems that things are moving a bit fast, but don't worry, it's not over yet. Everything is just getting started. Don't be afraid to tell me what you all think, I love reading your comments! Peace out :)**

 **(1) The song Ally and Austin are writing is the song I feel the Love by Tritonal, but it is sung by Ross. I highly suggest that you listen to it. It is amazing and it feels like Austin Moon is singing. It's like Timeless 2.0.**


	4. More than a Fight

**Chapter 4  
More than a Fight**

* * *

Ally went home feeling extremely weird. She could not exactly describe what she was feeling, but it was a mix of nervousness, fear and happiness. She could not remember the last time writing a song made her feel this good. When she was writing with Austin, she felt like she first felt when she became famous: extremely happy, confident and grateful. It was something she had long forgotten about and now that she felt that again, she did not know what to do. It was like her old self was meeting with her new self and did not exactly get along. It was like both of them were trying to take over and she did not feel at ease with that. It made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She tossed and turned all night thinking about how that writing session with him made her feel. She got to the conclusion that actually feeling a connection with someone was not a good idea in her situation. She kinda wanted to get close to Austin, because he made her feel good, but she somehow felt guilty that she was lying to him. She was not ready to tell someone at the school about her real identity, so she decided that shutting Austin out was the best idea. Beside, liking being at that school would prove her manager, Ronnie and her parents right and she doesn't want them to be right.

Austin went home feeling something similar to Ally. He felt extremely conflicted, because Ally was a bitch when they first met. She had been so cold when they first wrote a song together and now it was almost like they trusted each other. He somehow wanted to trust her; a connection was made between the two of them even if it wasn't a normal 'love at first sight connection'. It was not like that. He did not know what it was, but it was not love. He was scared to trust her though. He, however, decided that he would not listen to his protection instinct and get closer to her. She was not that bad when he was alone with her and writing with her made him feel good.

The next morning, the two teenagers got to school in two completely different moods. Austin was his happy self, as always, but Ally was a bit touchier. Austin walked up to his two best friends sitting in the cafeteria and they chatted about this and that. When Ally entered the cafeteria, Austin walked up to her to ask her to continue writing the song on that same night. When he did, she blew him off completely.

"Hey Emma." Austin greeted her.

"Hey." She answered dryly without even looking up to meet Austin's beautiful hazel orbs.

"I can't stop thinking about the song we're writing. I'm really feeling it. I thought we could work on it tonight." Austin asked her genuinely with his signature smile. He was really happy about how the song was turning out and that got him really motivated for this project.

"I can't." Ally answered. "I have better things to do." She had made her decision regarding Austin and he was a bit shocked by her words.

"Oh. Maybe we could work on it tomorrow night then?" Austin asked suddenly disappointed, but hoping she would agree to work on the song another day.

"Listen, Austin. The deadline for this project is in like two months and I can't be bothered right now." Ally answered dryly and extremely irritated. It almost hurt her to reject his offer like that.

"What?" Austin asked surprised. "I though you liked writing with me."

"Well, you thought wrong." Ally spat and she walked away.

Austin walked back to the table where his two friends were sitting and sighed in frustration.

"Did I do something wrong?" Austin asked rhetorically and the only answer his friends could give him was shrug their shoulders.

Why was she so hostile all of a sudden? Austin thought they were getting along the night before while they were writing the song. They both had good ideas and they listened to each other. It was almost like they were friends, but now, it was like Ally, or Emma, let go of that to be the brat she was when they first met her. He did not know what her deal was, but she was a complicated person. In a way, he wanted to not care, but something was telling him that it was all a façade and he wanted to see the person behind it.

"I don't understand her." Austin said and it caught his friends' attention. "We got along great last night when we were writing the song and now, it's like she hates me."

"She sure is something." Trish commented.

"I just wish we could just write this song and be done with it so I won't have anything to do with her anymore." Austin said angrily and Trish just raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Austin asked irritated.

"You like her." Trish said and Dez nodded at Trish's comment.

"What?" Austin asked shocked. "That's crazy."

"Why else would you be this annoyed that she started to act cold towards you?" Trish asked the boy.

"I'm annoyed because we have to write a song and she won't help me." Austin declared. He thought that was the real reason, but sometimes, he didn't quite understand his feelings.

"Keep telling yourself that, buddy." Dez said as he patted Austin's shoulder.

"You're on her side?" Austin asked the red head.

"I can't deny the truth." Dez stated seriously.

"You're both nuts." Austin said to his best friends.

"Are we?" Trish said. "Because it sounds like you had a lot of fun writing with her yesterday."

"She was a different person yesterday. It seemed like she liked writing the song too, but now, now it seems like she is a new person. A person that only cares about themselves." Austin responded to the Latina.

"So, you would say you liked spending time with 'nice' Emma yesterday." Trish stated as she watched Austin carefully.

"I did." Austin said. "But that's never going to happen again."

"So, you liked Emma back then." Trish said and Austin's eyes widened.

"Stop putting words in my mouth." Austin said realizing what Trish was doing.

Austin said realizing what Trish was doing.

While Austin was arguing with his best friends, Ally walked outside and dialed a very familiar number. She made sure no one was around her before making the call though. She couldn't stand going to that school any longer. It was a real nightmare for her. She hated normal people and she hated the fact that she was feeling things. She used to be so good at blocking her emotions.

"Ramone Records." It said on the other end of the line.

"Hey, it's Ally, can you please transfer me to Ronnie?" The diva asked.

The secretary did as asked and Ronnie answered the phone.

"We've got to talk." Ally said sternly and irritated.

"I'm good, how are you?" Ronnie asked.

"Your little game, it's not working." Ally said. "I want to go home."

"What happened, Ally?" Ronnie asked.

"People are thinking they can be my friend. It's disgusting." Ally lied. Well partly. She hated the people, but she also hated the fact that she liked spending time with Austin.

"That is exactly why you are there, Ally." Ronnie said. "You have to learn to like spending time with regular people and start being grateful for what you have."

"But I fucking hate it." Ally almost shouted.

"Deal with it." Ronnie said. "Make friends, have fun, fall in love. I don't know, but do something instead of whining."

"I hate you." Ally said and then she ended the call. Those words stung, she wanted to go home because she was scared of falling in love. She did not want to appear weak and she obviously did not want her parents, Ronnie and her manager to be right. She doesn't want this place to do her good.

She walked back in the school and head for her first class: music. She forgot that she would have to put up with Austin for an hour because she had a music class on that very same morning. She entered the classroom after hearing the bell and sat down as far away of Austin as possible. She spotted him the moment she set foot in class and he immediately looked up to meet her eyes. She felt happy that she was able to resist temptation and get to know him better, but a tiny bitsy part of herself was feeling almost bad for ignoring him.

Much to her dismay, the teacher had chosen to give them time to work on their song, so she had no choice, but actually socialize with the blond.

"Have any other ideas?" Austin asked her nonchalantly without even looking at her.

"Why do I feel that you really care about this?" Austin asked the blonde sarcastically.

"I don't care about this, but I still have to write the fucking song." Ally said to Austin.

"It seemed like you cared yesterday." Austin stated. "What changed?"

"That is not of your business." Ally answered.

"It is my business, because it's supposed to be teamwork as in you and I both work in team to write the song." Austin answered irritated. That was not a good way to start the day for any of them.

"You are so irritating." Ally exclaimed angrily.

"And so are you." Austin spat. "Why do you act like you like me one second and the next, you act like I'm the most annoying thing on Earth?" Austin asked her and it left her speechless. "I can tell you one thing, princess, you will never be happy if you keep acting like that. I thought you liked writing the song with me yesterday, but you made it obvious that you were faking it. I just wish you could stop wasting my time."

"Your time?" Ally exclaimed. "You're the one wasting my time. I could be doing something way more interesting than this right now, but I'm stuck with you. I didn't ask to do this project with you."

At that point, they had the attention of pretty much the entire class and they didn't even notice it.

"That is called school." Austin almost shouted. "Life isn't perfect. Nothing will ever go your way, but you have to accept that. You can't live a perfect life. It doesn't exist. So, either you drop out of this project and get an F or you suck it up and work with me."

Ally couldn't find the words to day. It took a couple of seconds before she actually thought of something to say to Austin. The class was more scared about her comeback than Austin actually was.

"If I drop out of this project, you're gonna get an F too since you suck at writing songs." Ally spat.

"Then, princess, what are you going to do?" Austin asked.

"Stop calling me that." Austin said.

"Then, stop acting like a spoiled brat." Austin responded.

"Austin, Emma, could you please deal with your differences in private." The teacher finally managed to say.

The two teenagers walked outside the classroom and then found themselves in the parking lot of the school.

"Where are you going?" Austin asked Ally.

"I'm leaving." Ally said.

"So that's it. When you have a problem, you just run away?" Austin asked aggravated and Ally looked down. "The real problem isn't about songwriting, is it?"

"No, you're the problem." Ally said and that actually surprised Austin. He hadn't done anything to her.

"What?" Austin asked surprised. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You make me feel things." Ally shouted and that took Austin aback. "Things I don't wanna feel."

"I don't control your emotions, princess." Austin said. "You'll have to deal with them on your own."

"That's the thing. I can't deal with these feelings on my own." Ally said as she took a step towards Austin. There was only a foot between their bodies now.

"Well, you're gonna have to." Austin said dryly.

Without wasting any other second Ally grabbed Austin's face and crashed her lips on his. She didn't know what came over her. She was surprised by her own actions, but that somehow felt right.

Austin, on the other hand, was incredibly shocked by her actions and froze. It took a couple of seconds for him to register what was going on and then, out of hormones, he kissed her back.

The kiss they were sharing wasn't sweet or passionate at all. They were both guided by hormones and lust. The fight created so much tension between them, that it helped them relieve it.

Ally pulled Austin towards her until there wasn't any more space between them. Austin took the opportunity to surround her waist with his arms and she put her arms around his neck. The kiss was rough, but they both liked it.

The pulled away after a couple of minutes completely out of breath.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" Austin asked realizing what happened. He backed up and stared at her almost in disgust.

"I don't know." Ally answered. "I really don't know."

"What the fuck?" Austin asked again.

"Let's just never talk about this again." Ally said and Austin agreed easily. They both walked back inside trying to look like nothing happened and tried to not think about the kiss.

They would never admit that they both really liked it. They both really wanted to feel the other's lips on theirs again. Maybe Trish was right, maybe a lot of tension was building up between them.

* * *

 **Well that was the fourth chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing that fight scene. Did you expect it? Probably, but still. Thank you all for reading, following, favoriting and for following. I'm sorry I took more than a month to update, but I can't promise I will update in a certain amount of time. My updates will be sporadic for the rest of this story. I do hope to finish it before January. I love you all! Peace out :)**


	5. Back to Zero

**Chapter 5  
Back to Zero**

* * *

Ally came home that night extremely irritated and extremely confused. She didn't even understand why she kissed the boy. She definitely did not have feelings for him. He was an annoying brat who she was stuck working on a song with. Sure, she had worked with lots of people she didn't like before, but this time, it was completely different. Austin was aggravating her more than anyone ever did and the worst part about all that was the she had no idea why.

She hated the idea of going to high school and meeting normal people, but she never thought they would annoy her so much. She came back to her apartment that night angrier than usual and her stylist, Julia, could obviously.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" The older woman asked as Ally sat on the couch and sighed.

The popstar acted like she didn't hear the stylist because she really, really did not want to talk about this. Especially not to her. She was practically a stranger and her only job was to put her disguise on and take it off once she got back from school.

Julia knew Ally was a difficult person. She actually has been her stylist ever since she became famous, so she knew the girl very well even if the girl herself wouldn't admit it. Julia walked to the couch and sat next to Ally who sighed in frustration when she realized what the woman was doing.

"I don't want to talk to you." Ally said sternly and annoyed.

"Fine, just listen then." Julia said sternly and seriously. It made the popstar turn to look at her. Ally wanted to shut her up, but Julia started talking before she could even shush her.

"I know you say you hate it here." Julia said looking at Ally, but Ally looked at anything beside the woman. "But I know you don't and that's why you're frustrated right now. You want to hate the place, but you don't."

Ally finally raised her eyes and looked at the woman confused. What she was saying wasn't true. Ally hated the place and nothing would change her mind. Why was her stylist trying to act like her psychologist anyway?

"I know you want to go back to your popstar life, but do you remember your life before that? When you had a best friend, and were living a very modest life?" Julia asked and Ally looked away timidly. "I know you were happy. Your parents keep talking about that time in your life. How you were happy and enjoyed life. They really miss seeing you smile, you know."

"Are you implying that I'm not happy?" Ally asked a bit insulted. "Because I'm unhappy right now since everyone's goal is to make me suffer."

"That's not true. People are trying to make you realize fame isn't happiness, Ally. Happiness doesn't come from material possessions or fame. It comes from within. If you love yourself, are proud of what you've accomplished and accept that life isn't perfect, you'll feel happiness. If you shut out everyone only to be famous, the main thing you should feel is loneliness. Sure, you have thousands of fans, but can you talk about your day or your feelings to your fan? No, you can't. Family and friends are made for that. The problem is that you shut out your family and don't want to make friends. Your parents sent you here hoping you would build friendships. Do you remember how happy you were when you had Piper? I know you miss having a best friend."

Ally stared at the woman sitting beside her with an opened mouth. How could her stylist know so much about her and use it against her? Suddenly, the words she said scared her. Ally always thought she was happy being a popstar and having thousands of fans, but one thing Julia said was true. She did feel alone, but that was because everyone pushed her away, or that's what she thought. Ally did miss Piper, but Piper was the one who pushed her away, or that's what she thought. In reality, Piper never answered Ally, because Ally never once picked up the phone when she called to get news. Piper got tired of it and realized that being friends with a new popstar wasn't such a good idea and that was how they both parted ways. Ally never knew Piper felt that way, but what's done is done. There's no way for her to contact Piper anyway.

"You're wrong. I loved my life the way it was before I got sent here." Ally said rising her emotional walls. There was no way she would let Julia of all people get to her.

"What about that boy you're writing a song with?" Julia asked raising an eyebrow knowing Ally would react immediately.

"How do you know about him?" Ally asked shocked.

"I'm not just here to create your disguise, you know. I'm also here to keep an eye on you." The older women explained and Ally's eyes widened.

"You're spying on me?" Ally shouted angrily. She really, really wished she could get privacy, but it seemed like she lost that when she became famous.

"Your parents asked me to." Julia said honestly and Ally was fuming with rage. "Anyway, I know you really like that boy."

"What? I don't." Ally shouted again, but angrier than before. That was a touchy subject for her, because she didn't know herself why her reactions were always so strong around Austin.

"Is that why you willingly kissed him?" Julia asked scoffing.

"You saw that?" Ally asked suddenly ashamed of her action. "I don't like him. I hate the guy. He's the most annoying person ever."

"There's a thin line between love and hate, princess." Julia said.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." Ally said through gritted teeth. "I've had enough, I'm going to bed."

Princess.

That word echoed in her mind. She couldn't get Austin's taunting voice out of her mind. She couldn't get how disgusted he looked after they kissed out of her mind. That was just too much for her. She didn't know how to handle whatever the situation was.

* * *

While Ally was at home, Trish and Dez invited him to get a juice at the nearest café. The blond was hoping this would distract him. He couldn't stop thinking about what happened earlier with Emma. As much as he despised the girl, kissing her felt good. He knew it was a dangerous game he was playing. He knew he shouldn't be attracted to Emma and that she was only trouble, but he loved how she slowly opened up to him the last time they worked on the song together. When their hands touch while they were playing the piano, he felt something he had never felt before. He felt that rush of electricity described in every cheesy love story.

She had told him he made her feel things, but she also made him feel things. The only difference was that he knew what he was feeling and didn't try to push those feelings away. Although, it didn't he wanted to share them with their friends. Trish would tell him 'I told you so' and would tease him endlessly. He wasn't really up for that.

"Austin?" He heard his Latina friend say.

"What?" Austin asked realizing he was lost in his mind.

"It's your turn to order." Trish said as she pointed the impatient cashier.

"Right." Austin said nervously. "I'll have a mango smoothie."

The boy paid for his order and the three friends sat at a table outside to sun the sun set. Austin was mindlessly playing with the straw in the cup in front of him, but didn't notice his two friends staring at him concerned.

"Austin, what's wrong?" Dez asked. Austin looked up only to see the concerned look on their face.

"Nothing." Austin tried to assure his friends, but they knew he was lying.

"You've been off ever since last period." Dez commented.

"Did something happen in your music class?" Trish asked and her eyes lit up like she realized something. "What happened with Emma?"

"What makes you think something happened with her?" Austin asked in a squeaky voice.

"The fact that I can tell when you're lying and your squeaky voice isn't helping your case." Trish said seriously to her blond friend.

"Spill the details." Dez said as he leaned towards Austin with a wide smile. He loved meddling in his friend's love life.

"Nothing happened." Austin declared trying to look serious and truthful, but they weren't buying it.

"Then I guess we'll have to… tickle you." Dez said leaning towards Austin to actually tickle him.

"Really?" Trish asked. "You're such a dimwit."

The redhead ignored Trish's comment and tickled Austin's belly who started to laugh uncontrollably. They looked like to six-year-old fighting.

"Ahh… Dez… Stop it." Austin said as he laughed.

"Not until we get the juicy dets." Dez said as he tickled Austin even more. The few people who were also sitting outside stared at the trio confused and annoyed. They were making too much noise.

"She… kissed… me…" Austin said as he laughed to make Dez stop.

"What?" Trish exclaimed shocked.

"I believe he said she kissed him." Dez said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Is that true?" Trish asked the blond who suddenly looked down.

"Yeah." Austin said not even bothering to look at his friend. He didn't know why, but he felt a bit embarrassed.

"Did you kiss her back?" Trish asked trying to understand the situation.

"I did." Austin told his two friends and Dez gasped very loudly.

"And that's why you're feeling so off right now." Trish thought out loud. "How did it feel?"

Austin really did not want to talk about that, because he's not even sure how to describe it. He was very disturbed by Emma's actions, but the kiss itself felt incredible. He felt like his entire body was on fire and she definitely left him wanting more.

"How do you think it felt?" Austin asked.

"I think it felt fantastic and that is why you're out of it right now." Trish said.

"Maybe." Austin answered, but the other two knew it actually meant 'yes'.

"What happened after the kiss?" Dez asked.

"We both realized what happened and agreed to never talk about it ever again." Austin told his two best friends.

"That's disappointing." Trish said to the blond. "You two would be great together."

"Did you forget the fact that we hate each other?" Austin asked.

Simultaneously, his phone vibrated on the table indicating he received a text message. The three of them looked at the phone and as soon as Trish saw who the message was from, she took the phone to read it before Austin could even react.

"Trish." Austin almost shouted as he tried to take his phone away from her, but it was no use.

"Austin, I was thinking that we could work on the song tomorrow after school. What do you think? By the way, I'm sorry about how I acted today. I'm sorry I was being such a bitch." Trish read out loud and Austin's eyes widened.

"Did she really write that?" Austin asked as he finally snatched his phone away from her.

He opened the screen to see the message.

"I think we should work on the song tomorrow after school." Austin read out loud. "She never apologized. Did you really think she would apologize for her behavior?"

"But you still have a date with her after school tomorrow." Trish teased.

"That's not a date. That is working on a project." Austin clarified.

* * *

Austin and Ally were now awkwardly sitting on the same piano bench staring at the keys in front of them. They had agreed to never talk about the kiss again, but they never said they would forget about it.

After arguing with Julia the night before, Ally came to the conclusion that she should face her problems. Also, the faster they finished writing the song, the faster she could forget about Austin. That was her main goal. She just wanted to survive what her parents, record label and manager put her through to go back to her fabulous life in Los Angeles.

Austin was playing the piano while Ally was singing the verses they had written so far. She made sure to not touch the keys, so she wouldn't create an even more awkward moment between them.

She sung the lyrics they had written together flawlessly.

"Stumbling through the crowd, feet lifting off the ground, looking for you, washing my fear away, standing here face to face, nothing to lose, I won't look back now."

She finished singing the pre-chorus, but they just couldn't find the words for the chorus. They both had the writers block and maybe it was because this was leaning towards a love song and none of them wanted to write a love song together since it would mean acknowledging their feelings.

"That was perfect." Austin said to Ally.

She thanked him, but never turned to look at him. If she did, she would get lost in his beautiful hazel eyes. He did make her feel feelings and she wasn't fond on them.

"What's wrong?" Austin asked since she didn't even bother to look at him and she looked lost in her thoughts.

Ally stood and walked to the nearest window. She seemed to do that a lot. It actually helped her think and she didn't have to face Austin if she was looking outside the window.

"Remember when I told you it wasn't my choice to come here?" Ally asked the blond. He carefully stood and walked towards her.

"Of course." Austin said on a smooth tone.

"I always thought I would hate the place. I want to hate this place." Ally said thoughtfully. She felt like she was talking to herself more than she was talking to Austin.

"But you don't hate it?" Austin asked the popstar.

"Not completely." Ally admitted from under her wig. "I always thought my parents were wrong about sending me here. I want them to be wrong. I want to be right for not agreeing with them, but I feel like that's not possible anymore."

"How come?" Austin asked a bit confused about what she was saying.

"Someone made me realize that all I do is push people away so I wouldn't get hurt, but I get hurt because I feel so lonely. I never realized I felt like that until recently."

"That's why you're acting like a bitch most of the time." Austin stated with a small laugh, which made Ally smile slightly.

"I always thought putting my walls up would protect me." Ally said still staring out the window.

"It does protect you from bullshit." Austin stated. "Do you have friends back where you lived?"

"No." Ally admitted. She didn't know why she was being so honest with Austin, but it felt good to talk to someone.

"Have you ever had any friends?" Austin asked even though that was a touchy subject.

"Yes." Ally said. "But something big happened to me and we lost contact."

"Oh." Austin reacted. "What happened?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it." Ally said. She really did not want to reveal her true identity to him.

"You can tell me when you're ready." Austin said to sooth her.

"Something like that." Ally muttered under her breath, but Austin did hear her.

"Well, if you're willing to not act like a bitch anymore, consider myself your friend." Austin said with a warm smile as he put his hand on top of hers since it was resting on the edge of the window.

"Really?" Ally asked as she turned to look at him, but, what she predicted happened.

She got lost into his eyes. And so did he.

 **And that was chapter 5! Only two weeks after the last one, I'm proud of myself. I hope you liked it, because I loved writing it. Some drama between the two might be coming soon… Thank you all for the amazing reviews, the follows, the favorites and of course for reading.**


	6. Truce

**Chapter 6  
Truce**

* * *

 _"_ _Well, if you're willing to not act like a bitch anymore, consider me your friend." Austin said with a warm smile as he put his hand on top of hers since it was resting on the edge of the window._

 _"_ _Really?" Ally asked as she turned to look at him, but, what she predicted happened._

 _She got lost into his eyes. And so did he._

Austin and Ally were both staring into each other's eyes and without even realizing they were both leaning in. Even if they both tried really hard to forget the kiss they shared a couple of days ago, their subconscious wouldn't forget about it and even wanted more.

It was Austin who first backed off after realizing what was happening. As much as he would've loved to feel her lips on his again, it wasn't a good idea. They would probably fight about it again and their friendship would be gone and so would the song they were trying to write.

"I don't think we should start a friendship that way." Austin stated as he looked at a disappointed Ally. She, too, really wanted to feel his lips on his again, but she knew, in a way, that it wasn't such a good idea.

"You're right." Ally said. "I'm sorry."

"I think we should start by trying to tolerate each other if we want to finish that song." Austin said to the pop star, and she nodded in agreement.

Ally took a deep breath. "That's true."

They both walked to the piano bench and sat back on it. Their shoulders were brushing against each other's, but they were both ignoring what it made them feel for the sake of the assignment.

"Okay, so, so far, the song is about looking for that someone who will change your life for the better, right?" Austin asked thoughtfully and gazing into space.

"Yeah." Ally answered.

"So, Emma, the first chorus obviously needs to be about that." Austin said. "How about we start the song with something like _I've been looking day and night for someone like you._ "

"There is nothing poetic about that. It doesn't reek of emotions, it just reeks of someone trying to put words on a melody." Ally answered and that stung Austin. He knew he wasn't good at songwriting, but she could at least sugar coat it.

"Well, Mrs. I-know-everything-about-songwriting, how should it go?" Austin asked the fake student beside him and she smiled triumphantly.

"I think _I've gone too many nights, chasing the shadow of your silhouette_ would sound better." Ally said and sung. "It's way more poetic."

"Alright, you have a point." Austin said, defeated. "It does sound way better."

"I feel like you're not even trying to be poetic when you think of lyrics." Ally said to the blonde. "Are you afraid of letting out your emotions?"

"I'm just not good at putting words on them, that's all." Austin answered. "I've never been good at expressing myself."

"Well, with my help, you're gonna get better." Ally said to the boy. "I was afraid like you are when I wrote my first album."

"First album?" Austin asked, confused. "You've released music before?"

"What?" Ally answered nervously. "No, I mean, you—I mean—I've written songs for myself before and I like to believe they are like my albums."

"Okay." Austin answered suspiciously. The more he got to know Emma, the more confused he was about her. It sometimes felt like she had an entire other life that she never talked about. Maybe she was hiding something?

"I've always loved to write songs. I've been writing since I was like eight." Ally admitted to the boy. "I think I'm getting pretty good at it. Maybe even Grammy Awards worth."

"A bit cocky, are we?" Austin said sarcastically.

Ally laughed internally, because, she had been nominated the year before for a Grammy Awards in the category Song of the Year. She didn't win, but she was still nominated which was a huge accomplishment for her and her cocky popstar self was very proud to brag about that.

"Maybe." She said. "Alright, I'm gonna write the lyrics down and then I think we should call it a day."

"Actually, I was heading to the mall for a juice with Dez and Trish, maybe you'd like to come with us?" Austin suggested. He wanted to finish that song and he knew the only way to do that was to become friends with Ally, well, Emma.

"I don't think I'd be welcomed there. Your friend Trish doesn't seem to like me." Ally said and she wasn't exactly at ease with hanging out with normal people. She was slowly changing to the Ally who loved music, but it didn't mean she didn't have some old habits, like not liking regular people. She didn't like the idea that she was slowly turning into a normal person. She liked being a famous pop star.

"Come on. You don't have any friends at school. Maybe you could win Trish over." Austin said and Ally was still unsure, but she agreed to shut him up. "Besides, I'm sure you would eventually get along with Trish."

"Fair enough." The fake blonde answered.

* * *

"Finally." Trish exclaimed. "I was wondering when you would—"

"Hey." Austin greeted his Latina friend as she noticed the blonde beside him.

"Emma." Trish stated as she stared at the hidden pop star/

"Hi." Ally forced herself to answer. She didn't want to be there, but somehow, she wanted to please Austin. All Ally could wonder is if it was what friendship was supposed to feel like.

"Austin?" Trish asked the boy suspiciously looking back and forth between him and Ally.

"I just invited her to get a juice with us." Austin explained. "There is nothing wrong about that, right?"

"Of course not." Trish said. "I was just about to join Dez. He's saving us a table."

The trio walked to the nearest smoothie bar and joined Dez who had already ordered all their usual, except for Ally, of course. Trish sat down immediately to sip her juice and read the newest edition of her favorite magazine, Cheetah Beat.

It only took a couple of seconds for Ally to realize she was on the cover of it. She subtly smiled proudly to herself. Another time she made the cover of a magazine. Although, this time, the title was: _Ally Dawson fired from her label?_ She groaned internally as she read it. Why did people make up so much shit up about her? She knew they wanted an explanation for her disappearance, but they were exaggerating and their guesses were horrible.

"Do you really have to read that Trish?" Austin asked the Latina, annoyed.

"Yeah, those magazines only lie." Ally added. She knew from experience.

"At least it's entertaining." Trish defended as she continued to read the magazine in her hands.

"What is entertaining about a spoiled brat?" Austin said pointing Ally's picture and she gasped internally.

"What's wrong with her?" Ally asked trying to sound subtle. Why didn't he like her? He didn't even know her.

"Austin's jealous of her talent." Trish said to tease him, but Ally smiled internally, again. At least the acknowledged her talent.

"That's not true." Austin added. "I'm just mad there are so many artists like her that have raw talent but waste it because of fame."

"You think she's wasting her talent?" Ally asked, shocked. She thought she was doing great with her latest album. The critics were mixed, but the fans that stood by her seemed to like it.

"Did you hear her latest songs?" Austin asked. "They're all about how fabulous or incredible she thinks she is."

"But they are catchy." Dez added. Austin turned to Ally.

"You understand better than anyone how music is supposed to be about emotions." Austin said looking at Ally, well, Emma. "You're the one who taught me to use my feelings to write lyrics and you know that's not what she's doing."

"I guess fame got to her head." Ally said as she looked down in realization. Lots of people didn't like her because she became a bitch and she was losing fans because of that. She knew her songs weren't as heartfelt and emotional as the songs in her first album, but she was pleased with them.

"The saddest part is that her first and second album are great, but the latest one is awful." Austin said and somehow, those words really got to her. A teeny tiny part of her actually cared about what Austin thought of her and hearing her say that he didn't like her latest music really stung.

"I'm gonna go get a juice." Ally said as she stood and walked towards the smoothie bar completely dodging the rest of the conversation. She had enough with hearing them insult her even if they didn't know they were doing so.

"What's up with her?" Dez asked as soon as she was far enough.

"Yeah, she started acting all strange when we started talking about Ally Dawson." Trish said suspiciously.

"I don't know." Austin responded realizing that her actions were indeed weird.

"So, why is she here?" Trish asked, taking advantage of the fact that Ally was gone to get a juice.

"We called a truce." Austin said. "We decided to try and be friends so we could finish that song without killing each other."

"Huh huh." Trish answered. "Was that truce sealed with a kiss?"

"What?" Austin asked. "No, it wasn't."

"It's only a matter of time." Trish said as she eyed Ally from afar. The incognito pop star walked back to the table and sat right beside Austin, a little too close to his liking. Trish would think something is going on between them when there really isn't, or is it?

Austin couldn't lie to himself about one thing; he really liked spending time with her when they are working on the songs. He feels like she's being a hundred percent herself and that he can be himself, too. Although, as soon as they leave the music room, she goes back to being a brat and he didn't like that about her.

"Did I miss something?" Ally asked obliviously.

"No." Austin answered. He was about to say something else, but Trish cut him off.

"So, Emma, we don't really know anything about you." Trish stated.

"So?" The pop star asked.

"I just want to learn more about you." Trish said. "You are very secretive."

She had no idea how many secrets she was hiding.

"Well." Ally said. "I'm from Los Angeles and I was forced to come here."

Austin was a bit surprised that she admitted that. She had told him about that, but asked him not to tell anyone.

"Why?" Dez chirped in.

"My parents said it would teach me how to properly behave." Ally admitted bluntly.

"It hasn't worked so far." Trish mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Ally asked.

"Nothing." Trish corrected herself.

"Anyway, I come from a very wealthy family and now, my parents only give me what's necessary to live here." Ally explained.

"Why don't you get a job?" Austin suggested and the pop star laughed at his answer.

"Me?" She asked. "A job? Oh, you're serious."

"Why not?" Austin asked.

"I don't do 'work'." Ally said. "People work for me."

"Here comes the inner diva." Trish commented.

"Would you stop calling me that?" Ally asked, annoyed.

"Then, stop being one." Trish said to the fuming fake blonde.

"Emma, please calm down." Austin asked as he put his hand on her arm and somehow, that action sent bolts of energy through both of their bodies.

Ever since they had touched hands while playing the piano, the two of them couldn't shake that feeling away. Every time their arms brushed against each other, they felt it. The both tried to ignore it, Austin slowly concluded that Trish was right; he was attracted to the blonde even if he didn't want to.

Austin and Ally stared at each other for a split second, which didn't go unnoticed by Trish who raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, just get together already." Trish said, irritated by the situation. It was obvious that the two had the hots for each other, but they wouldn't acknowledge it. Ally and Austin looked away from each, trying to hide the blood rushing to their cheeks.

Dez looked at the Latina confused. "You want them together? But you don't like her."

"Maybe not, but the tension between them is so thick you could cut it with a knife." Trish declared. "The only way for them to release that tension would be to get together or something."

Those words didn't really please Ally. She didn't need someone to tell her what to do and what to feel. Besides, she was trying to deny those feelings as much as she could.

The pop star stood and walked away after Trish's last statement. Austin looked back and forth between the two girls and then stood to join Ally who was already a couple of metres away.

"Emma." Austin called, but she did not turn around.

He called after her again and, this time, she realized he was calling her. She wasn't that used to being called Emma.

"Please, wait." Austin said and she did. He joined her so he could tell her whatever he needed to tell her.

"Don't listen to Trish." Austin said. "She can be very insistent and direct."

"I noticed." Ally answered bitterly. "But it's not why I left."

"Why did you leave, then?" The blonde asked.

"I don't like being around people. I'm more of a loner." She answered Austin, but he knew she wasn't telling the whole truth.

"It's not just that." Austin stated. She knew that he knew that she was lying, but she didn't feel like telling the truth.

"Being around people make me feel, well, feelings and I don't like it." Ally stated and Austin's eyes softened.

"You've told me that before." Austin said. "And then you kissed me."

Ally's eyes widened and then she snapped. "I thought we agreed to never mention this again."

"It doesn't mean I forgot or that you forgot for that matter." Austin reasoned.

"You're scared of feeling and that's why you left. I believe Trish struck a sensible cord." Austin said to the pop star.

"More than one sensible cord was struck tonight and that's why I'm leaving." She said referring to the moment she realized that her music wasn't as good as it was when she first got famous and how Austin seemed disgusted by Ally the pop star's most recent attitude.

"You're gonna have to learn to let it go." Austin said. "You cannot live your life with that barrier you keep building around yourself."

"Watch me." She defied and then Austin did the unexpected, for Ally at least.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek slowly, but appreciatively. Deep down, he knew he had feelings for her and doing that was just a plus. He actually wanted to make her realize that feelings weren't all that bad even if he had trouble expressing them.

When he opened his eyes again to meet hers, he only had one thing to say.

"How did that make you feel, Emma?"

She looked at him, but didn't answer. She didn't want to admit what it made her feel; flustered. She liked it. When she realized that he was waiting for an answer, she turned around and walked away.

"Sleep on it." Austin said from afar.

The problem about his actions was that it left him wondering about his own feelings for Emma. He was craving for more. He wanted to get to know her, to be by her side. He wanted to hold her.

 _Shit._ He thought to himself. He just realized that he was falling for her.

He walked back to their table to get his juice and to tell his two best friends that he was leaving. Trish looked at him with a smirk while Dez looked utterly shocked.

"Don't say anything." Austin demanded as he looked at the Latina girl. "I know what you're thinking and I'm not gonna talk."

"Alright." She said, laughing internally. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

As Austin walked back to his house, he could think of two things: Emma, and the song they were writing. He suddenly had a boost of inspiration and texted the ideas of lyrics to himself. He realized after writing them that they were all about how he felt. First, he felt the love creeping between him and Emma, he wanted to get to know her, he wanted her to forget her past so she could enjoy her time with him and most of all, he wanted her to know how he felt. Everything started to make sense in his head now.

On the other hand, Ally was even more confused than she was before, but not about the same things. She realized that what she became wasn't what she hoped to be. She remembered how she felt when she wrote her first album. She wanted to express herself and to inspire others, not to make them feel little of themselves. When she first became famous, she swore to herself that she wouldn't let fame get to her head and that's exactly what she did. Now that she kept herself from feeling, she also kept herself from writing heartfelt songs. Thanks to Trish and Austin, she now started to realize that she might have been wrong after all and that she needed to get back to her roots.

She could feel the love between her and Austin blossom and as much as it scared her, it also made her feel something she hasn't really felt in a long time, _appreciated_.

* * *

 **And that is it for chapter 6. I'm sorry I took two months to update. I will obviously not finish this story before the next semester starts (January 9** **th** **), but I am hoping to write more during the next couple of weeks. Thank you all for supporting this story and mostly for reading/reviewing/favoriting and following it. You have no idea how much it means to me. I love you all. Peace out :)**


	7. Real Feelings

**Chapter 7  
Real Feelings**

* * *

Why did Austin have to make it so difficult for Ally to live in Miami?

The popstar kept asking herself that question.

When he kissed her cheek the night before, she was sure that he was going to kiss her. She was almost … disappointed when she felt his lips connect with her cheeks instead.

She also couldn't stop thinking about Austin's question: How did that make you feel?

She was scared to say her answer aloud. Only thinking about how she felt didn't make it exactly real. If she said it aloud, that would make it real and she was terrified.

The truth was that it made her feel good. It felt right and more importantly, she wanted more.

She was very confused at the moment and not just about Austin; she realized that her parents had a point. She had changed ever since she became famous and not for the better. She thought that all celebrities had to act like that, but she realized that she might have been wrong. She understood her parents now, even if it pained her to be wrong, extremely wrong.

"Are you alright?" Ally's stylist asked her as she'd been staring out the window of her apartment for the last forty minutes.

"Fine," Ally answered, unsure of herself and dryly. She kept staring out the window instead of looking at Julia.

"No, you're not," the woman responded as she eyed Ally.

Ally couldn't even describe what she was feeling. It was a mix between fear, happiness, anger and hatred. She didn't think it was possible to feel all those emotions at the same time. It was as if faith decided to make her feel everything at once. She thought that maybe it was because she had kept herself from feeling for a long time now.

"I think my parents might have been right," Ally whispered hoping Julia wouldn't hear.

"What?" The woman gasped, almost choking on her breath. She never ever expected the popstar to say those words. She was normally a very stubborn person.

"I think my parents were right to send me here. I wasn't going in the right direction and I would've gotten myself lost," Ally admitted painfully.

"And you're not saying that because you want to go back to Los Angeles?" The woman asked suspiciously. The brunette had tried all sorts of things to get back to L.A. and even though she wanted the best for Ally, she knew going back wasn't an option.

"No," Ally assured Julia. "When I went to eat ice cream with Austin and his friends, they ended up talking about me, well Ally, not Emma, and they said she was a diva and that her new music wasn't as good as her first and second album. They said she became self-centred and a brat, and they are right."

"Wow," Julia said. "I thought it would take you longer to realize that."

"I realized that I like the feeling of writing a heartfelt song like the ones I used to write more than my latest album," Ally admitted.

"I am glad to hear that," Julia said enthusiastically. "I have to ask though, you were smiling way more than usual last night, why?"

Ally's eyes drifted away from her stylist through the window again. Would she dare to say it aloud, was she capable of admitting something like that? She wasn't even sure how she was feeling, but she knew that Austin did not repulse her anymore and that she liked spending time with him.

She didn't realize she was smiling until Julia pointed it out.

"Did something happen between you and blondie yesterday?" The older woman asked.

"I think he likes me," Ally said, dodging the real subject. The stylist raised an eyebrow at her answer, expecting further development of her answer.

"And—And I think that I—I might like him, too," Ally stuttered as she looked at the floor, a bit embarrassed by what she just said.

"It's about time you admitted it to yourself!" The woman answered, exasperated. "Tell him."

"What?" Ally asked, in shock. "I'm not gonna tell him."

"But you said he liked you," Julia reasoned putting her hands on her hips.

"I said I thought he did," Ally answered. "Not that he did."

"So?" Julia said. "Just tell him. You might be surprised by his reaction."

"I'm not going to tell him!" Ally answered, determined and annoyed.

"Ah, I get it," Julia said with a smirk. "You're scared."

There, she hit a sensitive chord. She wasn't scared, she was utterly terrified. She was terrified of what it might make her feel, of what people would think if she started dating Austin and how the public would react to Ally Dawson having a normal boyfriend. And maybe she was just scared of getting hurt in the end.

"I'm not—" Ally started to say, but Julia just gave her a look. "Fine, I'm terrified. There, happy?"

"Yes, because it means you actually have feelings," the stylist nudged the popstar.

Ally was about to answer something when she heard her phone vibrate in her jeans' pocket. She unlocked the screen and looked at the message.

 _Hey Em, I've had a couple ideas for the song and I was wondering if you could come to my house so I could show you?_

Ally smiled slightly at the screen in front of her face and Julia smirked at the brunette.

"I believe this was from Austin?" The woman asked.

"Yup," Ally confirmed. "He wants to meet me for the song."

"Well, go get him!" The stylist said, laughing.

"Ugh!" Ally groaned. "I never should have told you this!"

* * *

Ally stared at the door in front of her; it was quite an ordinary door. It was made of wood and had a peek hole. Nothing special, really, but she felt intimidated by it or maybe it was from what was on the other side. Somehow, she felt that opening this door would change her life, in a way. She knew that she wouldn't be able to see Austin the same anymore and she was terrified of how she would react to seeing Austin after finally admitted that she liked him.

She took a deep breath and then counted to three.

Then, she knocked three times on the door.

It took a total of six seconds, and two deep breaths for Austin to reach and then open the door.

Ally sucked in a breath as soon as she saw a peek of his blonde hair.

"Emma!" Austin greeted with his usual smile.

"Hey," Ally answered sheepishly, she felt so out of it. She felt like she was having an existential crisis.

"Come in," Austin said to the girl a bit nervously.

They walked to the living room where the piano was sitting and they both sat on the bench without saying a word. Ally stared at the keys in front of her and avoided Austin's eyes. She had always been a confident person, but now, it felt like her confidence levels were really low.

"Alright," Austin said as he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. She knew he was nervous, it was obvious, but it was definitely not for the same reasons as her.

"Let's hear it!" Ally said.

Austin gently put his hands on the piano keys in front of him and closed his eyes as he took one last breath.

He started to sing from the prechorus.

 _Stumbling through the crowd,_

 _Feet lifting off the ground,_

 _Looking for you,_

 _Washing my fear away,_

 _Standing here face to face,_

 _Nothing to lose,_

 _I won't back now._

Somehow, the lyrics started to make sense to her. She realized that she had been looking for that one person to help her through life, to make her feel good about herself and that that person would suddenly make her fears resurface and fade away. That was exactly how Austin made her feel at the moment. And then, he sang about the two people being close, face to face, and that they had nothing to lose.

Maybe, just maybe, Ally had nothing to lose if she admitted her feelings to him. What if Julia was right?

And then it hit her when he sang a new part of the song that seemed to be the chorus.

 _I feel the love_

 _I wanna get to know you_

 _I feel the love_

 _Let the past burn into the sun_

 _I feel the love_

 _I really want to show you now_

She knew Austin was only inspired by his emotions when they were really strong and she thought the lyrics were really good. That could only mean that something in his life really inspired him and a tiny bit of her hoped that she inspired him.

He felt the love, just like she did.

He wanted to get to know a person, just like she wanted to get to know him.

He wanted to let go of the person's past to create the future, just like she was trying to do with her life.

She wanted him to know how she felt, like he wanted to show that person how he felt.

It was all falling into place.

He _liked_ her.

He _really_ did.

"Emma, you're staring," Austin mentioned awkwardly.

"Sorry," she apologized as she snapped back into reality.

"What did you think?" Austin asked expectantly, but she was once again lost in her thought, fighting the desire to hold him, and lightly press her lips against his.

Her self-control did not last long.

She looked up from the keys to his eyes and looked at him for about a second, before glancing at his lips for a millisecond.

He picked up exactly what she was thinking about and gently leaned in, making sure she accepted his actions, and she did.

She closed her eyes and slowly leaned in until their lips met.

That simple touch made her body feel like it was on fire and she craved for more.

Austin lifted one of his hands to gently cup her face and she just wrapped her hand around his wrist in appreciation as he didn't hesitate to deepen the kiss.

They pulled away completely content a couple of minutes later.

When Ally opened her eyes, she realized that Austin was already staring at her.

"So, I believe you liked it?" He asked, teasing.

"Liked it?" She asked. "It's amazing! Who knew you could actually be good at writing lyrics?"

"Hey!" Austin intervened, but she just smiled and that smile could make him melt if Ally really tried.

Austin just stared at that beautiful smile of hers and then her lips. He needed to feel them against his again, so he did as his instinct commanded and connected their lips once again.

They shared a chaste kiss, but it was incredibly meaningful to them.

It was Austin who spoke up when they broke apart. "Listen, don't ask me why, because I don't even know why, but I really like you, I really do," he said anticipating her reaction.

"It felt good," Ally said and Austin furrowed his eyebrows since this was nowhere related to what he just admitted and she realized it. "Last night, you asked me how it felt when you kissed my cheek."

Austin's eyes widened in realization.

"It felt incredibly good," Ally said. "Being with you feels good."

Austin smiled at her confession.

"I really like you, too," she said and Austin's smile got wider.

"Well, girlfriend, how about I hear that pretty voice of yours singing the lyrics I wrote?" Austin asked, purposely calling her his girlfriend to see her reaction.

"Well, boyfriend, how about you sing them again so I can memorize them?" Ally asked, teasing, but Austin was satisfied with her answer.

"But first," Austin said as he pulled her into his embrace. She didn't even flinch, she just wrapped her arms around him and held him tighter. She rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in his smell. He smelled like pancakes and a cologne she could not identify, but it was comforting in a way.

And then Austin's parents walked in.

"Austin, who's this?" His mother asked as the two teenagers pulled away and looked awkwardly at his parents.

"This is Emma," Austin said as a blush crept its way on his cheeks. "We're doing a music project together."

"Right," his father said suspiciously.

"We're also dating," Austin said bluntly and Ally blushed. Yes, the Ally Dawson blushed.

"Really?" Her mom asked as enthusiasm spread its way on her body.

The woman walked over to Ally and hugged her tight. "Welcome to the family!" She said excitedly.

Ally just awkwardly hugged the woman hoping it would end soon. It took a couple of seconds for Mimi to join her husband again.

"By the way, I'm Mimi and he's Mike," Austin's mother said as Austin was trying to hide his embarrassment.

"It's nice to meet you both," Ally responded with a warm smile.

Austin's parents walked away and into the kitchen to give the two teenagers some space.

"Sorry about that," Austin said as he turned to the fake blonde.

"That's okay, your mother seems really nice," Ally assured him.

"Yeah, but she can be embarrassing sometimes," Austin said still trying to tame his feeling of embarrassment.

"I'd rather have embarrassing parents than parents who do not care about me," Ally said looking at the floor.

Austin sat beside her and tilted her chin so she would look straight into his eyes.

"Your parents sent you here because they care about you. They want what's best for you. They are doing this for your own good," Austin said, trying to reassure her. He knew this was a touchy subject, but he wanted to help her.

"It doesn't feel like it," Ally declared.

"Come on, you wouldn't have met me if they didn't send you here!" Austin said with a smirk.

"I guess you've got a point," Ally said as she leaned in to steal a kiss from him.

Maybe she will be alright after all.

* * *

Austin stood in front of his lockers as he loaded it with all the books he had to bring for the weekend. He had just entered the school and was waiting for his friends to arrive.

"Hey there, blondie," Trish said from afar.

"Hey," Austin greeted a bit too enthusiastically for the Latina.

"Is everything alright?" She asked suspiciously.

"Everything is great," he said and he really meant it.

"Hey buddy!" Dez screamed from the other side of the hall. That was just a typical Dez.

"Hi Dez," Austin said as the redhead walked over to him.

"You seem happy," Dez pointed out.

"I am. There is something that I need to tell you," Austin said and at that exact moment, Ally walked over to them, entwined her fingers with Austin's and kissed his cheek.

"Hi there," he whispered in her ear.

"What's going on?" Trish asked, raising an eyebrow.

Austin decided to wait for the next day of school, which was a Monday, to tell his friends and Emma and him. He decided that he would rather do it in person and Ally agreed. That just meant that they had more time to themselves over the weekend without being disturbed by them.

"Emma and I are now a couple," Austin told his friends as he smiled warmly looking at his new girlfriend.

"What?" Trish shouted, which got her the attention of everyone in the hall.

"It's about time!" Dez said simultaneously. "I'm so happy for you both!"

Trish still wasn't over the primal shock.

"But you said you hated her?" Trish asked and Ally raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I lied," Austin answered, smirking, but it faded as soon as Trish turned to the popstar.

"If you ever hurt him, I will make sure that you'll never be able to walk ever again," the Latina said trying to sound threatening.

Ally tried to hide the fact that she was laughing internally at the Latina's comment by trying to look at least a little bit intimidated.

Satisfied with her job, Trish decided to go to the cafeteria and Dez decided to follow her to leave the couple some time alone.

"She'll warm up to you," Austin said as he turned to Ally.

"Do you really think do?" The popstar asked sarcastically. "Because it seems like she's ready to kill me."

"She's only trying to sound threatening," Austin said. "She'd never try to hurt you."

"I hope so," Ally answered. "I have no reason to hurt you anyway. I like you too much."

The teenager smiled at his girlfriend's comment and leaned in to kiss her beautiful sparkly lips.

"Your lip-gloss tastes like strawberries," he stated, laughing.

"Does it make you want more?" She asked playfully.

"Maybe," he answered.

"Eww!" They heard a feminine voice say from behind them.

"Brooke," Ally said, looking at the brunette.

"What do you want?" Austin asked, almost protectively.

"For you to stop making out in the hall, it's disgusting," the diva answered.

"From what I've heard, you've probably slept with more than half the guys of this school in the janitor's closet, so seeing us kiss shouldn't disturb you," Ally said to the high school diva.

"You know what your problem is?" Brooke asked.

"I don't give damn about what you think, Brooke," Ally retorted. "Get over it."

Austin silently laughed at the fight between the two girls and especially because Ally was driving Brooke mad.

"Why don't you just go back to where you came from?" Brooke suggested trying, but failing, to sound threatening.

"Can't stand competition?" Ally asked playfully and smirking.

"No, because no one likes you!" Brooke said trying to sound convincing.

"Really?" Ally smirked. "Why don't you ask my boyfriend?"

Austin smiled at Brooke playfully.

"People don't like you, because you are a bitch!" Ally said. "And I bet you are a bitch so people have a reason to hate you. That way, you don't feel alone and unloved."

Austin stared at his girlfriend, impressed, while Brooke just fumed with rage. The brunette turned around and walked away clearly angry.

Austin turned to his girlfriend and smiled.

"You are so fierce, I love it!" He said, smiling. "But I think you just got yourself in trouble. Brooke will only try to bring you down harder."

"I'm not scared of her," Ally said confidently.

"Good, because she can stoop really low sometimes and she's capable of awful things," Austin answered.

"Well, it's good that I've got you to protect me, then," the popstar said as she hugged Austin.

They were really turning into this cheesy, happy couple, but they both loved it.

* * *

 **Here we go, chapter 7! I really didn't expect to write a new chapter this week, but inspiration struck me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter (I think this is my favourite one so far!) and don't be afraid to leave comments! Thank you all so much for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! It really means a lot to me! (I have no idea when the next chapter will come out though…)**


	8. Beautiful Lie

**Chapter 8  
Beautiful Lie**

* * *

"Ugh, could you guys keep it down a notch?" Trish exclaimed, aggravated. She had been sitting with Dez, Austin and Ally, and the couple was being all cuddly and annoyingly cute. She might have wanted them together, but now she found it repetitive and annoying. They were too perfect for each other and everything between the two was too perfect for her. She loved how they used to fight all the time when they weren't dating, she found it entertaining, but now, they were always happy and joyful.

"One day, you'll fall in love Trish, and you'll understand why we act that way," Austin said as he looked at his best friend and then kissed his girlfriend on the cheek.

"I think I'd get on my own nerves if I ever acted that way," Trish snickered and Austin laughed. That was a typical Trish thing to say. She liked the idea of relationships, but she hated the cheesiness.

"That's true," Ally confirmed.

"So," Dez said as he completely changed the subject of conversation. "Did Brooke finally do something about that threat?"

When Austin and Ally announced their relationship to Austin's best friends, Brooke had acted all irritated and insulted Ally, which only resulted in Ally insulting her more. That's when Brooke pretty much threatened to destroy her.

Ally honestly couldn't care less, but Austin and his friends found her a bit intimidating. They weren't scared of Brooke herself, but more of what she was capable of. If she wanted to destroy someone's reputation, or that person herself, she would sometime stoop so low it would ruin that person's life. She was the reincarnation of the devil himself, at least, that's what most people called her.

"No, she hasn't," Ally said. "And she won't. Besides, I'm not scared of her. If she wants to play a game, all you have to do is not play it. No one should ever stoop to her level."

Ally, being used to the paparazzies and the Hollywood drama, wasn't afraid of a school's queen bee. Ally was so used to ignore all bad comment or reviews, or even facing Hollywood brats like she used to be. Actually, since she had been a brat like Brooke before she came to Miami, she knew how the brunette thought and she was able to see her immature moves coming. To sum it up, she was far from afraid.

"You're so confident," Austin said to his girlfriend almost in admiration. It was true that since they started dating, their relationship evolved into a cheesy one instead of the love-hate relationship they used to share.

"I'm just used to that kind of people," she said. "Haters are everywhere. Believe me, I know."

"How would you know better than anyone?" Trish asked the fake blonde as she raised an eyebrow. Nervousness suddenly took over Ally and she wasn't exactly sure of what to answer. She knew she would have to tell her friends and her boyfriend about her real identity someday, especially when she'll go back to Los Angeles, but she didn't know how they would react. She knew that they probably wouldn't be too pleased about the lies she had told them, but what other choice did she have? If she blew her cover, she would still be stuck at Marino High, but as Ally Dawson, which would probably be worse than being there as Emma Jones.

"I just do, I mean, I see them all over the internet and the critics and Twitter and—"

"Sometimes, I feel like you're hiding something from us," Trish said, raising an eyebrow and Ally looked away. "You're always so secretive."

"I just don't like telling everyone the story of my life," Ally defended, but Trish didn't buy it. She didn't know how to size that girl. Trish seemed like she could be genuinely nice, but, at the same time, she seemed like she could destroy you if she wanted to.

"Nonsense, you love to talk about yourself," Trish said and Austin's eyes widened.

"Okay, Trish, I think that's enough," Austin warned his Latina friend. She was starting to push things too far. Austin and Emma had been dating for a bit more than a week and since Emma started to spend more time with them, Trish grew more and more suspicious and it was becoming annoying to both Austin and the popstar.

The truth was, Trish had been noticing more and more weird behaviour from Emma's part. During the past week or so, she could only see how secretive and weird she actually was. First, she always refused for anyone to come to her place. She always made sure she went to their place. Second, she scolded Austin every time he tried to touch her hair. She said it was because she put a lot of efforts into making it pretty, but Trish felt like she had other reasons. Third, she always dressed like a Hollywood star, as if she had her own stylist or something. That was enough for Trish to know that Emma wasn't who she said she was, but she couldn't find a way to make her spill the truth and to make Austin believe her.

"Hey, are we still rehearsing our song after school?" The popstar asked her boyfriend to change the subject. She just wasn't ready to tell them yet.

"Of course we are," Austin said. "I love making music with you."

Also, Trish found it extremely suspicious how she knew so much about the music industry and music itself, as if she was directly involved in it. It wasn't just a hobby or a passion, she knew more about music than Austin, and nobody knew more about music than Austin at this school.

"Alright, I'm gonna freshen up before class," Ally announced as she stood and walked away from the table they were sitting at in the cafeteria, but not before she planted a soft kiss on Austin's cheek.

"Dude, you're so smitten," Dez said to his best friend who was smiling contently. He really did like Ally, well Emma, he loved how they could so easily connect through music. That was the first person he'd ever felt that way about.

"I've never felt the way I am feeling now before," Austin said, as corny as it sounded.

"I think you should be careful," Trish said in a serious tone.

"Why?" Austin asked, completely oblivious to Trish's thoughts. He really liked Ally, well Emma, and he didn't like the fact that Trish was doubting her more and more.

"I think she's not who she says she is," Trish said. "I think she's hiding something."

"And what would that be?" Austin asked, annoyed.

"I'm not sure, but don't you find it weird that she's so secretive and never wants anyone to come to her place?" Trish said. "Not even you."

"I think you're watching too much Crime and Judgement," Austin declared. "Maybe she's just trying to forget about her past and move on and that's why she's so secretive?"

"I feel like there is something more to it," Trish said. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"You're the one who wanted us together," Austin stated truthfully.

"I know, but don't you feel like she's hiding something?" The curly-haired teenager asked and Austin looked down. As much as he was trying to convince himself that Emma was a genuine person, he could understand where Trish's doubts were coming from.

The bell rang, indicating that they had five minutes left to get to class, so Austin walked away from where they were all sitting in the cafeteria to get to his next class.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Trish shouted as the blond exited the cafeteria not waiting for his friends.

What Austin couldn't understand was how much Trish wanted them together at first and how she was now trying to convince him that she was bad news. He always trusted his best friend, but he also trusted his girlfriend and he sure as hell didn't know what to do.

Although, all day long, the only question popping in his mind was if he really knew her that well. He knew her better than anyone else at this school, but he still didn't know much about her life, and herself, to be honest.

Emma said all those things about becoming a troublemaker in the past and that's why her parents sent her to Miami, so she could learn to behave herself and she did. Well, she was on the road to recovery and Austin believed her.

He saw how she had a change of character and how she'd improved her behaviour. She wasn't as hostile as she was when she first arrived to Miami a couple of weeks ago and she was genuine while writing songs with him.

Besides, Austin knew she really liked him and he thought it was impossible for her to hide something as big as Trish was trying to make out, like she was somebody else of something. Sure, she had a strange behaviour every now and then and she was secretive about her life in Los Angeles, but he tried to convince himself that she was just trying to forget something she wasn't proud of.

* * *

After his first class, Austin joined Emma in the hallway since it was the only moment he could see her. They didn't have any classes together on that morning. He also wanted to discuss about Trish's behaviour earlier that morning. Actually, he wanted a confirmation from her that his best friend was wrong, that she wasn't hiding anything big from him.

"I'm sorry about Trish's behaviour this morning," Austin said as he intertwined their fingers. "She likes fiction way too much."

"Don't worry about it, Austin," Ally had said to reassure him, even if she was lying through gritted teeth.

"She's not right, is she?" Austin asked the question that was on his mind during the entire first period.

"You're doubting me, too?" The popstar asked. She had to fake being mad or he would see right through her. The logical thing to do would have been to tell him the truth, but she didn't. She was too scared of his reaction.

"I want to trust you, Emma," Austin started. "But you've got to admit that you are pretty secretive. You don't even want me to come to your place. Why?"

"I…" She tried to come up with an excuse, but he raised an eyebrow.

"Emma…" He started. "I really like you, but if we want our relationship to work, we need to be honest with each other."

"You're right," Ally said, trying to hide how ashamed she felt. "If we want our relationship to work, we do need to be honest."

How was she going to tell him? Should she just do it like ripping a Band-Aid off your skin, or should she take more time?

"I'm glad to see we're on the same page," Austin said as he looked at her expectantly.

She knew he was expecting her to say something at that moment, but she just couldn't come up with the right words.

'Sorry Austin, Emma Jones doesn't exist and I'm actually the famous popstar Ally Dawson.'

'I'm sorry I've been lying, but I'm actually Ally Dawson.'

'We never should've gotten together, because you fell in love with Emma, not the real me, Ally Dawson.'

None of the options running through her mind seemed right and she didn't want to tell him at school. A tiny part of her mind was scared he would tell other people and that her cover would be blown.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Austin asked, but Ally brushed him off.

She slowly untangled her fingers from Austin and mouthed an apology. She then walked away, which left an angry and confused Austin alone.

"See you at rehearsals," He said loud enough so she would hear.

* * *

"So, ready to rehearse?" Austin asked his girlfriend as she walked into the music room.

The popstar was already sitting on the piano bench and she had a guilty look all over her face. She wasn't sure about what to do. She knew Austin knew she was hiding something, but she didn't want to tell him at school, even if it was five and there were no more students in the school. There were a couple of teachers, but they knew about her situation. She just couldn't find the courage to tell him.

He walked over to the piano and sat beside her.

"Listen," Austin started. "I'm sorry about this morning. I didn't mean to put pressure on you."

"Don't worry about it," Ally assured him. "You were right though."

"What do you mean?" Austin asked, confused.

"About the fact that we need to be honest to make our relationship work," Ally said quietly, like she was trying to push away her guilt. "And I'm not completely honest about my past right now, but I'm just not ready to tell you about it."

Austin looked hurt for a split second, but then his expression softened as he intertwined their fingers.

"It's okay, you can take your time, if it hurts too much to talk about it," Austin said with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Austin," Ally said even if she wasn't hurting. "I've never met someone as understanding as you before."

"Well, maybe I'm the first one to really fall in love with you," Austin said as he squeezed her hand harder.

"You love me?" She asked, surprised.

"I do," He assured her as he tried to hide the blush rushing to his cheeks. She did the same.

"I love you, too," the popstar told Austin.

And that was the truest thing she had ever said. No boy had ever made her feel the way she did now and she realized it was because he was bringing out the best of her, as cheesy as it sounded.

Austin smiled at her answer and gently leaned in. He could hear her heart beating faster than usual and that made him smirk. Their lips met passionately and the two teenagers lost themselves into their own touch.

Austin gently cupped Ally's cheek with his hand to deepen the kiss and he arms snaked their way around his neck so she could tangle her fingers in his blond locks. They shared a sweet, but meaningful kiss and they both really enjoyed it.

Eventually, without either of them realizing it, Austin's hand made its way to her neck, so he could bring her closer to him, but they found a weird texture instead.

He continued to kiss her, he was enjoying it, but he was now concentrating on her hair and its weird feeling. She was too caught up in the moment to realize what he was doing.

He realized that he could slide his fingers under her scalp to reveal more hair under it. That's when it clicked. She was wearing a wig.

Why though? He thought.

His instincts kicked in and he tugged on her hair until the wig was in his hand instead of on her head.

Her luscious brown hair fell on her shoulders and her eyes widened when she realized what happened.

Austin stared at her in complete shock.

"Oh my God!"

* * *

 **That's it for chapter 8! About time, right? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I know I'm going to enjoy writing the next one. Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, following and for the favorites. You have no idea how much it means to me! I love you all, peace out :)**


	9. Confrontation

**Chapter 9  
Confrontation**

* * *

"You're Ally Dawson," Austin stated as shock slowly faded away from his handsome face, but also as anger filled his normally smooth expression.

"Don't freak out, I can explain," Ally said as she analyzed the look on Austin's face: betrayal.

"Explain what?" Austin said, his voice angrier than she's ever heard. "That you've been playing me this entire time for your own amusement?"

"I have not been playing you," Ally said. "What we have, it's real. I meant it when I said that I loved you."

"I said I loved Emma, not Ally," the teenager answered. "You've never had my respect as a popstar and you definitely don't have my respect after this!"

"I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know how," Ally said as tears started to fill her eyes. She knew it was over. She knew he didn't want to be with her anymore.

"How about not lying in the first place?" Austin said angrily, but he couldn't hide the water filling his eyes. "I wanted to trust you. Heck, I trusted you! I loved you!"

"Austin… Please," the brunette said softly as she reached for his hand.

As soon as he felt her hand touch his, he pulled it away.

"Don't!" He said.

"Can I just explain why I'm here, why I've hidden my real self?" Ally pleaded Austin.

"Fine," he said. "You have five minutes and then I'm leaving."

"My parents and my label threatened me to stop producing my music if I didn't behave myself and since I didn't, they stopped producing my music to send me here. They said that I needed to get back to my roots to appreciate what I have instead of acting like a brat—"She explained.

"They couldn't be more right about the brat part," Austin said angrily.

"I hated this idea and I hated my first couple of weeks here. I hated my parents and Ronnie for this. They forced me to get a new identity so people wouldn't recognize me," Ally said as her expression softened, but his didn't. "At first, I was fine with it, because I didn't feel like being harassed by teenagers and paparazzies, but then, then I met you and everything changed."

"Seriously?" Austin asked, aggravated. "You expect me to believe that cliché crap? You expect me to believe that I changed your world and made you a better person? I don't buy it one bit."

"You're the one who reminded me why I loved music in the first place. Writing music with you was the only moment I felt like myself and not what my parents or the public want me to be," Ally explained to try and make him understand that he'd done a lot for her. She did not hide the tears that were flowing right out of her eyes. She did not want things to go this way. She hoped he could understand when she'd have told him on her own terms, but now, she knew she blew it.

"Just tell me your real intentions," Austin demanded, anger still taking over his voice.

"I told you," Ally said. "I promise I'm not lying."

"Like you haven't lied to me before?" Austin rhetorically asked.

"Austin, please, you have to believe me," Ally said desperately. "I never meant any harm. I love you and nothing is going to change that."

"I don't believe you," Austin said. "Ally Dawson is not kind enough to actually love me."

"So that's it?" Ally asked. "You've seen a bad side of me in the media and now you believe them? You said it yourself, these magazines are crap."

"I've seen some of your interviews before, those weren't lying," Austin said.

"Okay, I have made mistakes before, but that doesn't make what we have any less real," Ally said to convince the blond.

"How do I know what's real or not when you've been lying since we met?" Austin asked and Ally looked down.

"The only times I was honest about myself, about my situation, were when we were together, Austin," Ally said.

"Well, those times are over," Austin said. "Your five minutes are up."

The blond walked towards the door and was about to open it when she stopped him from doing so.

"I get that you're mad at me, but I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this,"

"Your situation is not my problem, not anymore, you'll have to deal with it on your own," the teenager hissed.

"Think about it, if the public finds out Emma Jones is actually Ally Dawson, the school will be invaded with media and paparazzies, do you really want that?" Ally asked.

"Fine, I won't tell anyone about you as long as you leave me alone!" Austin said.

"Deal," Ally answered and she watched the boy she fell in love with walk away from her.

Austin slammed the door behind him, not even noticing the brunette that was hiding in the hallway near the door with a malicious smirk. She just found the perfect way to destroy _the_ _girl she hated_ 's life.

The blond teenager let his tears fall freely on his cheeks as he walked towards his car. When he sat down in it, he broke down. He'd had girlfriends before, but he never felt for them what he felt for Ally, well more like for Emma. He rested his head on the stirring wheel and cried without even caring if someone saw him. He loved her, well loves her. He couldn't stop loving her that easily. He knew she had a point when she said what they had was real, because it was real to him, but even if he still loved her, her betrayal was unforgiving to him. She could've chosen to tell him the truth when they started dating, but she didn't. Even if they only dated for a week, it still hurt more than everything he had ever experienced before.

Meanwhile, the brunette sat on the piano bench and stared blankly in front of her. It was over. She messed up and she knew it. She couldn't understand why her life had to be so complicated. At that precise moment, she wished she wasn't famous. She wished he really was a normal teenager like Emma where fame didn't have to complicate everything. Actually, as much as she loved her career at first, she hated it now and Austin was the main reason why. He did make her realize the beauty of music she forgot about and he also made her realize that even if she was a loner, it was nice to have shoulders to lean on during a crisis like this one. The only problem was that she lacked shoulders to lean on. Austin was gone and even if she grew to like her stylist, she wasn't her best friend. Austin was the person she wanted to talk to, and he was gone.

When Austin was calm enough to actually drive, he did not go to his place, but to Trish's. He needed to talk to someone. He knew he promised not to tell about her, but he didn't care, he needed someone to talk to about all this and since Trish was the one who saw it coming, he knew she could be there for him.

He didn't even try to hide his puffy red eyes or his swollen face when she answered the door. She invited him and lead him to the kitchen where she offered him ice cream.

"You were right," Austin said as much as it pained him and the Latina raised an eyebrow. "She is not who she says she is, at all."

"What happened?" Trish asked as she looked sympathetically at her best friend.

"All this time, she was wearing a wig to hide her true self," he explained.

"Who is she?" Trish asked.

"Ally Dawson," Austin said carefully as he watched her reaction.

"The Ally Dawson?" The brunette almost shouted.

"The one and only," Austin confirmed.

"No fucking way!" Trish exclaimed. "Why is she here?"

"Her label stopped producing music to make her learn to behave," Austin said. "At least, that's what she said. I don't know what's true anymore."

"She's such a bitch!" Trish said.

"She kept telling me that it doesn't change anything between us and that she still loves me," Austin said as tears filled his eyes once more. He thought he ran out of them, but it looked like he didn't.

"Do you still love her?" Trish asked her best friend.

He did not answer her. Instead, he buried his face and his hands and sobbed. As much as he wanted to hate her, he couldn't. He couldn't forget about all the times they wrote music together. He loved being around someone who loved music as much as he did and she did seem genuine when they were writing together, but, once again, he couldn't tell what was true or not anymore.

"I want to hate her," Austin said. "I really do, but I can't."

"That's totally normal, Austin," Trish assured him. "It only happened like two hours ago."

"My feelings for her were true, but knowing that she was playing me only makes it hurt more," Austin said.

"I wish I could tell you she felt the same way about you, but I don't know what to think. She was lying this entire, but, at the same time, I've never seen any girls look at you the way she did," Trish said to make him feel better, but maybe she was just giving him false hope.

"Who knows what she can be lying about?" Austin asked.

"I know, Austin," Trish assured him. "You did the right thing by cutting it all off. You deserve someone amazing who can be honest around you."

"Thank you, Trish," the teenager said as he hugged her best friend.

"Is someone heartbroken, because I have the solution!" The two teenagers heard a voice shout as it entered the house.

Dez walked to the kitchen and showed them what he had in his hands.

"You got the latest Zaliens movie!" Austin exclaimed as happiness made its way to his eyes for a split second.

"No, I got," Dez said as he buried his hand in his bag. "All of them!"

"Sweet!" Trish said.

"Nothing can make you feel better than a Zaliens marathon!" Dez said with his goofy smile.

And that's what they did, they might not have slept a lot the night following the revelation, but, at least, they had fun watching their favorite movie franchise and it did make Austin forget for a moment.

Ally, on the other hand, spent her night very differently. She left the school extremely angry, but devastated at the same time. She was angry at Austin for not understand, but she was also angry that she was angry at Austin, because she knew he was right to be mad. She wouldn't have liked it if someone lied to her that way too. She got home and did the only thing she had been wanting to do since she got to Miami, pack her stuff and leave.

"What do you think you're doing?" Her stylist asked as she noticed her clothes spread everywhere in her room and the luggage sitting on her bed.

"Packing," Ally answered emotionless. "I'm going home."

"You can't do that!" Julia said. "Neither your parents nor Ronnie authorized it."

"I don't give a shit!" Ally shouted. "They can't stop me from buying a plane ticket."

"But I can!" The stylist said. "Ally, please tell me what happened."

The popstar was angrily folding her clothes to put them away in her luggage, but, eventually, Julia's hands on her arms prevented her from doing so.

"Ally, what's wrong?" Julia asked again, in a stern tone, and Ally lost it. Tears filled her eyes in the matter of seconds and she buried her face in her stylist's shoulder.

"I fucked everything up," She said between sobs. "He knows."

"Who? Austin?" The stylist asked. "He found out about you?"

"Yeah, and he's angry with me," Ally said to the closest friend she had at that moment. "He doesn't believe that I really love him."

"You love him?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah," the popstar answered sheepishly.

"Give him time to process all this. This must have been a hug shock," Julia answered.

"He said he doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. He asked me to stay away from him," Ally answered as tears fell on her cheeks, smudging her makeup even more.

"I think he just needs time to calm down," Julia said. "You do too. You came here so you could get back to a normal life and learn what made you love music in the first place. You cannot give up now, you've made so much progress."

"I just want to go home where there is no drama!" Ally said, exasperated.

"There will be drama there, too. This is Hollywood. You need to be strong and I know you can!"

"Thanks," Ally answered.

The next morning at school was not so easy for the two teenagers. First, they both really wanted to stay home and they both did not want to face each other.

Ally arrived earlier at the school than usual so she would not cross paths with Austin. She walked straight to her locker and then she proceeded to walk straight to her first class which was happily not with Austin.

The only problem was that Austin had the same idea as her. He arrived to school early so he could not see her before his first class.

Obviously, that backfired on them pretty quickly since they crossed paths when he entered the school and she was walking towards her classroom.

They locked eyes immediately and they could both see how exhausted and devastated the other was, which broke their hearts even more.

"Good morning!" Ally said in a faint voice, but as soon as he heard her voice, he walked passed her life she wasn't even there.

"Austin," she said quietly hoping he would turn around, but he obviously didn't. "What about our music project?"

"We'll figure it out then," He said dryly without turning around.

Then, she noticed the Latina and the redhead entering the school and walking towards the classroom Austin was headed. They both gave her a death glare, but they said nothing.

That's when she knew he had told them about her even if he promised not to. Could she really blame him though? She wanted someone to talk to, and she had no one. He needed someone to talk to, but he had his two best friends, so, of course, they knew. She just hoped they weren't going to tell the media about her.

"If it isn't the bitch?" A snarky voice said, which was intended for Ally.

"What do you want?" Ally asked, irritated.

"You seem upset this morning," the brunette stated.

"Just leave me alone, I'm not in the mood to talk to you," Ally said as she started to walk away, but the brunette followed her.

"Did someone get dumped?" Brooke asked, smirking knowing she struck a sensitive chord.

"That is not of your business," Ally spat.

"I always knew Austin was too good for you," Brooke said. "He deserves so much better."

"Just get lost, Brooke," Ally said.

"Did I upset you?" The queen bee asked.

"Fuck off," Ally said as she walked passed her and into her classroom. She was not in the mood for a conversation with the bitch herself. She had her own problems to deal with.

She should've known everything was too good to be true. She knew something like that would happen if Austin found out the truth and she knew she should have told him the truth from the beginning.

He should've known his feelings for her developed too fast for a normal relationship, that he got himself into this situation even if he hadn't known her that well.

They always say to follow your heart, but they never mention how much you could get hurt.

They both followed their heart, because it felt right, but maybe they should've followed their reason instead.

Or not.

* * *

 **Surprise to see me this soon? I actually surprised myself with this chapter, but I knew I couldn't leave you guys in the dark after that cliffhanger! Also, the fact that I'm on my Spring Break also gives me time to write, so… I hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing this chapter! Thank you all for reading! I also wanna give a special shout-out to VAdarwind and Ross's Juliet for reading and reviewing every chapter! You are the best! Until next time, peace out :)**


	10. Trouble

**Chapter 10  
Trouble**

* * *

Ally was quietly sitting right by the bay window in her loft thinking about everything that had happened between her and Austin in the last couple of days. She knew she could have handled the situation better, but she also understood how Austin felt: betrayed.

She had lied to him ever since they had agreed on the truce, but she should have told him the truth when they kissed after he sang the chorus of their song to her. He had poured his heart to her, she should have told him the truth instead of letting him find out, but she was scared.

She was so scared he would hate her, and that was exactly what had happened. That was why she was reluctant to tell him the truth. She knew she hurt him, but she hurt herself too. She fell for him when she thought she did not want to fall for anyone and, no matter what he might have said to her or even thought, her feelings for him were still present, and truer than ever.

She knew it was corny for her to think, but losing Austin made her realize how much she needed him. Somehow, their constant bickering, and then their relationship, kept her grounded. He was not lying when she told him he was the one who made her love music again, as cheesy as it sounded.

Julia slowly and quietly walked behind the brunette and cleared her throat to make her presence known.

"You need to get to school," Julia said quietly and softly. The stylist knew the popstar was hurting and that provoking her would not help the situation at all.

"I know," Ally answered, disappointed, but mostly

"What?" Julia asked, surprised. "No arguing?"

"What's the point of arguing if it doesn't get you anywhere?" Ally answered as she walked towards her room to grab her bag and put shoes on.

"Wow, that boy really hurt you," Julia stated as she stared at the popstar.

Ally ignored her stylist's comment and headed for the door. That was when the stylist noticed her attire: leggings and a baggy sweatshirt. She had put no effort in wearing what the stylist had prepared. She only harboured the wig so she would not be recognized at school.

"Ally, you'll get over this," Julia said as Ally twisted the door knob.

"I hope I will, because I'm feeling like shit right now," she answered. "That is exactly why I refused to let myself feel, because you always get hurt in the end."

"If you're still feeling hurt, it's not the end," Julia said.

"That was the corniest thing you've ever said," Ally said as she left her loft for school.

She was hoping to cross paths with Austin even if he told her off. She needed to see him; she wanted to see how he was doing. From what she saw the day before, he was as devastated as her. He looked pale and had so many bags under his eyes; he was like a walking dead.

She needed a big gesture to make him understand that she truly had feelings for him and that the only part she was lying about was her name and her hair colour. She knew it was easier said than done though.

Austin was smart and he was not so close to his emotions either. It probably took him everything to admit that he liked her and now that he found out the truth, he was not going to let her back in so easily.

She knew it was going to be hard, but she decided that she needed to make him understand how she truly felt.

She had to start by talking to him again, and the best way to do that was to try and start a conversation with him at school since he wouldn't return any of her calls.

* * *

Austin woke up feeling as bad as the day before. He was hoping time would be on his side, but every lingering second hurt him even more. Deep down inside, he wanted to at least believe that what Ally told him was true, that her feelings were real, but, every time he thought about that, he also thought about that fact that she had lied to him since they met.

Of course, he understood why she kept her identity a secret to school, and, honestly, he was glad she did, but it hurt him that she did not trust him enough to tell him the truth. She was probably afraid of what he would think since that time at the mall when they talked about how awful Austin thought Ally Dawson was.

He got out of his room to eat breakfast and both his parents stared at him questionably as he slumped on a chair with a toast in front of him.

"Everything okay, son?" Mike asked Austin.

"Is it about Emma?" Mimi asked.

Austin grunted before he took a bite of his toast. He knew he would have to tell his parents about his breakup with Emma, but he did not feel like telling them why. Actually, he promised Ally that he would not tell anyone. Well, he told Trish and Dez, but they are his best friends and he could not hide that from them.

"We broke up," Austin answered as he looked at his toast.

"I'm sorry," Mimi said as she put a reassuring hand on her son's shoulder.

"I'll be fine," Austin assured his parents.

"Of course you will," Mimi said. "You are a very strong person."

"Thanks mom," Austin answered.

He made small talk with his parents until he was ready to leave for school. He made sure he had all the books he needed for the day and that he was dressed properly. He wanted to show Ally that his life was going back to normal and that he was getting over her, even if it was far from the truth. He did not want to look like he was hung up on her and that she really hurt him.

The teenager left his house and joined Trish and Dez right in front of it so they could walk to school together. Spending time with his friends did really help him forget about Ally though. They were distracting him enough that he would not think about her and he was grateful for that. Trish and Dez were always there to support him and he was glad he had people watching his back.

When they arrived at school, Ally was waiting for them near the door. She was leaning on the nearest wall and stared at Austin. Anyone who was not aware of what happened between the two would think her stare was beyond creepy.

"Hi," Ally said, trying to sound cheerful despite the bags under her eyes.

Their eyes crossed paths for a split second, but Austin ignored her. He did not feel like adding to the drama on that day.

"Austin?" Ally asked, almost afraid that he would burst.

The Latina turned towards Ally while her two friends continued walking. "Stop it."

"I'm sorry," Ally said dryly. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Well, the one you want to talk to is done with you, so why don't you just quit it?" Trish spat.

By that moment, Dez and Austin were several metres away, but they could still here the two girls since they were both shouting angrily. Austin did his best not to turn around and look at them, but curiosity and feelings got the best of him.

"I won't quit it," Ally said confidently. "I know he refuses to hear what I have to say, but I will wait for him to be ready to hear me. I'd never meant to hurt him, I just didn't know how to tell him the truth."

"Wow," Trish exclaimed sarcastically, "You might have an average voice and a couple of catchy songs, but your acting skills are awful."

Ally ignored the Latina's comment and brushed past the cause of her misery and his friends towards the cafeteria. She sat down at one of the tables and took out her notebook. She used to write song lyrics in there, when it was her who still wrote her songs.

She started to scribble down some messy lyrics, hoping they would turn out into something great eventually. The only good thing about how she felt at that moment was that she was inspired to write lyrics. She was so concentrated on her notebook that she never noticed the brunette staring at her with a mix of maliciousness, disgust and maybe even jealousy.

She did not notice Austin and his friends walking to the cafeteria either. The gang sat down at their usual table, which was far enough from Ally's, but close enough for her to recognize their voices. She only noticed them when Brooke joined the gang to flirt with Austin.

"Look who's coming," Trish said in an annoyed tone to her blond friend.

"Ugh," Austin whined as he saw the brunette walking towards him. Brooke had tried to make many advances on him before, and she was not letting go.

"Good morning, Austin," Brooke said as she sat down with them. She said it loud enough for Ally to hear her clearly.

"What do you want?" Austin asked, clearly not in the mood to deal with her.

Brooke put what looked like a reassuring hand on Austin's arm and spoke. "I just wanted to let you know that I am here for you if you need anything. Breakups are never easy."

Ally caught a glimpse of Brooke's lingering hand on Austin's arm and it made her boil in anger, because she did not see Austin trying to brush her hand away. Instead, she saw a stoic Austin who was listening to Brooke. She could not tell if he was truly listening to her though.

"I appreciate your concern, but you're the last person on Earth I would go to for support," Austin said dryly.

"Come on, don't say that, I truly care about your happiness," Brooke told him, but no one at the table believed her. Brooke only cared about herself and everyone knew it.

"Right," Austin answered. "Well, it was nice talking to you, but I'm going to class now," Austin said, trying to rid himself of the brunette demon.

He stood and gathered his stuff and made sure his friends were following him. Brooke, more clever than she looked, noticed Ally staring at them, and decided to take advantage of the situation.

She followed Austin, tugged on his arm, and hugged him before anyone could react. She was hoping Austin would be so shocked that she would be able to hug him for a couple of lingering seconds, but he immediately pushed her away. His reaction made Ally laugh and then she winked at Brooke's weak attempt to make her feel jealous.

Brooke walked out of the cafeteria feeling both ashamed and vengeful. She hated that Emma, well Ally, stood up to her and that she insulted her more than once. She knew exactly what to do to make Emma made and to break whatever was left of a relationship between Austin and Emma. She knew the truth and she knew Emma did not know she knew the truth, so it was a perfect way to ruin everything and to finally gain Austin's love, at least she thought.

Austin glanced at Ally before he exited the cafeteria and he actually noticed how depressed she looked. At least, she was as miserable as him, he thought.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful for each member of the gang, it only went down after the last period of the day.

The bell rang and students were excited to finally go home and relax. Students shuffled everywhere in the school, but a couple of minutes after the bell was heard, Austin intended to leave like usual, but he couldn't reach the doors that led outside.

A swarm of people was by the doors and seemed to be looking at something in the middle. Austin made his way to the middle of the crowd as best as he could to see what the commotion was about.

All he could see was Ally, more like Emma, in the middle being asked many questions by reporters.

"Why are you going to a normal high school, Miss Dawson?" One reporter asked with a microphone.

Austin's eyes widened at the mention of her real name. Something was not right, either someone blabbed about her, which means it was either Trish, Dez or him, or Ally exposed herself. She was still wearing her wig, so it made no sense for them to know the truth unless someone blabbed, but he did not know who else knew the truth and he knew his friends would never have exposed her, even if they despised her.

Ally didn't even try to answer the questions they asked her and kept repeating that she was not Ally Dawson. Eventually, one reporter decided to take matters in his own hands, literally, and pulled on the wig to reveal her luscious brown hair.

Everyone around her gasped and started whispering incoherent things. Ally looked like a deer caught in headlights. It was over for her.

She could not show her face at school anymore, and she knew it. She wanted to run away, but she could not, too many people were around her, whether it was journalists, reporters or students shocked by the situation.

She scanned the crowd quickly and she immediately spotted Austin. She frowned.

"How could you do this to me? Do you hate me that much?" She yelled, staring right at him. Everyone turned to look at what she was looking, but no one could identify for sure who she was talking to.

Ally made her way through the crowd and hurried to her car. She couldn't believe Austin would stoop that low.

Austin stood in the hall frozen. He could not believe she blamed him. He knew the consequences of exposing her secret, and he had no intentions to live them.

He needed to have a chat with Trish and Dez.

He also needed to talk to the popstar herself even if he dreaded the idea.

* * *

 **Hey ya'll, I don't think I can apologize enough times for not updating in the last four months. I've had a serious lack of inspiration for this story and I've had inspirations for others, so I wrote them. I am back, and I'd say there are about two-three chapters left to this story, and hope to write them by the end of the summer (key word: hope)! I want to thank everyone who is still following this story and I want to thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following! :D Peace out :)**


	11. The Talk

**Chapter 11  
The Talk**

* * *

Austin stood in the hallway frozen. All the reporters and the paparazzies stared at him since Ally's words were clearly meant for him, everyone turned their gaze to Austin when Ally screamed at him. They all rushed to him and formed a huddle around him, bombarding him with silly questions and hurtful remarks.

"Why do you hate Ally Dawson?"

"What did she do to you?"

"Were you stupid enough to fall for Miss Dawson?"

The blond teenager was too in shock to react to any of the questions or to any of the remarks. He had not exposed Ally and he trusted his friends, so he had no idea how it had happened. Nevertheless, it still hurt him that Ally thought he would betray his promise. They might not have been on good in the last couple of days, but Austin had always kept his promises, and he promised to keep her secret.

Austin tried to ignore the reporters out to find his way to his car. He needed to get to his house and think. He refused to answer anyone and entered his car, blocking most of their voices. He was hoping they would leave him alone eventually if he refused to talk to them. Luckily for him, that was exactly what had happened. The reporters got bored and left gradually. Although, Austin knew that they would be back every day until either Ally or he answered their questions to fuel their articles and blogs.

Once he got home, he immediately called his best friends. He needed to know who exposed Ally and Trish was the best at finding information about anything and anyone. Even though he was trying his best to suppress his feelings for Ally, having her exposed wasn't a good thing and he wanted to help her, as conflicting as it sounded.

Austin still wanted to keep his promise to her, he did not want her to get hurt or to get in trouble. It was only a matter of hours, even minutes, before they found out where she lived and harassed her even more.

It only took a couple of minutes for Dez and Trish to arrive to his house in a panic mode. Trish bombarded Austin with question as soon as she entered the house, and Dez looked as clueless as usual.

"Maybe I could get on TV with all those reporters!" Trish said enthusiastically to irritate her best friend.

"Ha. Ha," Austin retorted.

"So, Ally got exposed, that's what we're talking about, right?" Dez asked.

Trish nudged the ginger's shoulder, annoyed. "Have you paid attention to the last couple hours?"

"You haven't told anyone, right Dez?" Austin asked, worried about his friend's innocence.

The redhead reassuringly put his hand on Austin's should and spoke. "You really think I would do that? I don't even understand half of what is going on!"

"True," Trish assured Austin. "He's a real dimwit!"

"Did you tell anyone?" Austin asked Trish in all seriousness.

"Of course not!" Trish defended. "I told you I would keep quiet!"

"I know," Austin assured her. "Just making sure."

"Who do you think did it, and why?" Trish wondered, clearly lost in her thoughts.

The three of them debated about all the possibilities over dinner, and then the evening. They could not seem to put the finger on the real culprit even though it was obvious that one person in particular really hated Ally from the beginning and only wanted her out of her way to get to Austin.

They had thought about Brooke, but brushed it off almost immediately, because they could not understand how she would have known about Ally's identity in the first place.

"Unless she was at school when I found out about Ally's identity!" Austin said as his eyes widened.

"Did you see her anywhere?" Dez asked, as Trish took notes of everything they had said.

"I was too upset about everything, but I did see a fuzzy blob that might have looked like a person if I had paid attention when I left the music room." Austin answered, trying to recall the night he found out about Ally. "But I cannot prove it was Brooke, it could have been the janitor or something."

"This isn't good enough!" Trish whined as she looked at the notebook in front of her.

* * *

"You exposed yourself?" Ally heard Ronnie shout from the other end of the line. She had explained everything to her stylist, and guardian, as soon as she got to her loft, and Julia took it surprisingly well, like she expected that situation. She was calm and collected, and wanted to help Ally, but you couldn't say the same for Ronnie Ramone.

"I did not expose myself!" Ally answered. "Someone exposed me."

She might not have known who exposed her, but she knew it was not intentional. She would rather have kept her identity a secret. She knew how awful high school could be if the kids there knew she was an international popstar.

"Do you know who?" Ronnie asked angrily, trying not to shout.

"I thought you didn't care if I exposed my true identity!" Ally retorted, annoyed by the head of her label. She remembered it clearly, he said that she would still go to high school even if she exposed herself, so she couldn't understand why he changed his mind.

"I didn't think you would be stupid enough to actually do it," the older man answered. Ronnie Ramone had had enough of Ally's behaviour and he could not stand the smallest little thing she did anymore, to Ally's chagrin. She might have been an obnoxious jerk, but she loved everything about music and performing.

"Cut her some slacks," Julia told the man. She seemed to be the only one these days who understood how Ally felt: lost.

"Who exposed you?" Ronnie asked.

"I think it was some boy I was working on a school project with," Ally answered truthfully.

"You mean Austin?" Julia asked.

"Who's Austin?" Ronnie asked.

"No one," Ally answered. "Well, I've gotta go, TTYL."

The popstar quickly hung up the phone and Julia stared at Ally, deploring her childish behaviour. Ally used to hand up on people when she was truly angry, but not when she was hiding something.

"You really think Austin did it?" Julia asked the popstar.

"Who else hates me enough to do this?" Ally asked as an answer. "He made it pretty clear he didn't care about what happened to me anymore."

"Enough to cause you trouble?" Julia asked, doubting Ally's supposition.

Ally looked away. "I don't know."

"Is there anyone else that might have been mad at you?" Julia asked, trying to understand the situation thoroughly.

"Not that I can think of," Ally responded honestly. "The only person who knew about me was Austin."

"Did he tell anyone?" Julia asked.

"I think he told his two best friends," Ally said thoughtfully. "Maybe Trish exposed me. She's hated me from day one."

"I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to talk to Austin and sort this out!" The stylist said.

* * *

Ally decided to wear her wig as she walked to Austin's house, she wouldn't want to be recognized, but, for safety, she wore the hood of her hoodie and sunglasses. That way, people were less likely to recognize her, even in her disguised form.

She made it to the door of Austin's house and hesitantly stood in front of it. She knew that whatever was going to happen when she knocked on that door would not be joyful.

She took three breaths in, and lifted her hand to knock on the door. As she did so, the door flung open, to reveal an annoyed-looking Austin.

"Ally?" Austin asked out of shock and surprise. He was not expecting to see her.

"Hi," she hesitantly answered.

"Can I do something for you?" Austin asked, suddenly putting his mask back on. It was like he was a completely different person when he was with Ally now, he was so stoic and stern.

"Did you do it?" Ally blurted out.

Austin grabbed Ally's arm and pulled her inside the house, so the neighbours would not witness their exchange. He did not want the reporters to find his house and then stalk him until they got what they wanted out of him.

When the door was closed behind the both of them, Austin finally decided to answer her question.

"What?" Expose you?"

"Yes," Ally answered sternly and without any emotions. "Did you expose me?"

"No, I did not," Austin answered truthfully. "I said I wouldn't, and, as a good person, unlike you, I'm a genuine person."

Ally frowned at his answer. She wanted to retort a snarky remark or something, but she knew it would not get her anywhere with Austin. He was mad, and she needed to let him cool down.

"But you had every reason to expose me," Ally said, trying to make him admit what he didn't commit. She couldn't understand who would have exposed her besides him.

"I promise I didn't," he said. "I knew the consequences of exposing you, and I really didn't want to live them."

The two of them had a very heated exchange about what would happen if Austin told her secret and he had agreed not to expose her. They both remembered it clearly. Although, Ally was so used to being deceived by other people that she would not have been surprised if the reason of her happiness, and misery, blabbed about her true identity.

"Then who did?" Ally asked. "You told Trish and Dez, right?"

"I did, but they promised me it wasn't them," Austin told her, meaning every word. "And I believe my true friends."

"Who was it then?" Ally asked. She felt the need to find the culprit, to find who hated her that much. Part of her wanted to get back at that person, but another part was telling her to let go of that desire. Her morals were telling her to get back at that person was wrong, very wrong, and that she needed to be the bigger person.

"How would I know?" Austin asked angrily. He was getting tired of her accusing him of everything that had happened to her ever since she got to Miami. She had attacked him at first, saying it was his fault she was feeling things she did not want to feel, and now she once again accused him of her misery.

"I don't know," Ally said loudly. "Maybe because you were the only one who knew?"

"Well, somebody else obviously knew about you!" Austin shouted, trying to reason the popstar.

"Who was it?" Ally asked, as she her body fall on the couch behind her in anger.

"I don't fucking know!" Austin answered. "Everybody hates you 'cause you're a jerk, so it's not a hard pick, really."

Ally's eyes widened. He had insulted her before, he had told her he hated her, but he had never been that harsh. She knew she had hurt him, but she realized that she might have broken his heart.

"I know you're still hurt, but you and I both know that's not true," she answered, swallowing back the sadness Austin's statement made her feel.

"Then why would someone have exposed you?" Austin asked, trying to sound clever.

"To get back at me for something, I don't know!" Ally shouted, getting up from the couch. She stood right before him and they could both feel the tension radiating in the room.

"Well, I promise you it was neither Trish, Dez nor me," Austin whispered-yelled, since they were so close. "You can leave now."

"What?" Ally asked, offended. "I was thinking we could talk about, you know."

"Not interested," Austin spat. "Bye."

The blond teenager opened the door and pointed it so she would leave his house. He really was not feeling like having to deal with her at that moment.

"What do I have to do to make you listen to me?" Ally asked, trying once more to get through him.

"Get this in your head, Ally, we're through and you know it," Austin said as he noticed the tears slowly appearing in her eyes.

"I know what I did was wrong, but it's not like I cheated on you!" Ally exclaimed as he took her arm to pull her out of his house.

"You played me, there's a difference, and I am not interested in playing games with you anymore," Austin responded as he pulled her out of the house. "You can leave now."

"Wait!" Ally said.

"Wha—'

Austin was suddenly cut off by Ally forcing her lips onto his. They felt soft and passionate to Austin. He wouldn't dare admit it to her or his friends, but he had missed her touch, her kisses. He loved her and he didn't think he would stop loving her anytime soon.

As soon as the initial shock faded away, Austin came to his senses and pushed her away from him.

"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again," Austin warned her.

"You kissed me back," Ally stated, looking deep into his eyes.

Austin slowly backed up and closed the door right in front of her.

He knew he wouldn't be able to get rid of her that easily.

She knew it would not be that easy to win him back.

* * *

Austin walked into school the next morning only to be greeted by a teacher he did not want to talk to.

"Good morning, Austin," his music teacher said.

"Mornin'," Austin answered, not too interested.

"I wanted to talk to you about the project due tomorrow," the teacher said. "I haven't seen your progress with the song and I wanted to make sure everything was alright. You haven't rehearsed at school in the last two weeks."

"Well, you can give us an F already, 'cause we are not performing tomorrow," Austin answered.

"Excuse me?" The teacher asked. "You and Emma have worked really hard, and the song seemed to be wonderful!"

"Well, I am not performing with her," Austin said.

"Whatever differences you might have with her, you need to be professional," the teacher said. "When you'll have a job, you won't always like the people you work with, but you still need to work with them."

"It's not a matter of hating her or not, mister," Austin answered. "And, this isn't the real world, this is just a silly high school project, and I don't care about it."

"She broke your heart, didn't she?" The teacher asked, trying to sound sympathetic.

"With all due respect, this is not of your business," Austin retorted.

"She was only lying to protect everyone here, and herself," the older man said. "She didn't lie to hurt people."

Austin stared at the man speechless. He could not believe even the teacher was on Ally's side, or that he knew exactly what was bothering him.

He turned around a walked away, wondering if he was truly being reasonable about the whole situation.

"I expect to see you perform tomorrow," the teacher shouted as Austin walked away.

Austin's eyes widened.

* * *

 **Hello beautiful people! I am back with a new chapter and I am happy to say I have more inspiration for this story, so I (hopeful) expect to finish it before October! I can't make any promises though… Thank you all so much for reading, following, reviewing and the favourites! It means so much to me!**


	12. Conflicted Feelings

**Chapter 12  
Conflicted Feelings**

* * *

Ally was pacing in her immense apartment thinking about the message she had received only a couple of minutes before. Julia was on a shopping trip, so she had no one to go to for advice.

She angrily ran a hand in her long brown locks and sighed for the twentieth time in the last five minutes. It all felt too weird to her. It gave her hope, and she hated that she knew something would burst her bubble.

Only a couple of minutes ago, she had received a text message from the source of her mixed emotions: Austin. That message clearly stated that he wanted _her_ to come to _his_ house, so they could rehearse their duet one last time before their performance the day after.

It all made her so confused. He had told her multiple time that he was done with her, and that he did not want to perform with her anymore. He said that he would rather fail the assignment than to have to work with her, but, if she remembered correctly, he told her that they would figure it out when the assignment was due, and it was due the day after.

Had he finally come to his sense? She wasn't sure, but something definitely triggered him. Otherwise, he would not have suggested rehearsal at his house.

She sat down on the cushioned sofa and stared at the screen of her phone. It was all written there: _I think we should rehearse for tomorrow. Come to my place after dinner._

The message truly was under Austin's name, so he was really the one to suggest it, unless Trish or Dez tricked him. She considered that option for a couple of seconds, but then abandoned it when she remembered Trish hated her guts and that Dez was too clueless to do that.

Was he genuine, or was he trying to trick her into something?

She desperately wanted to talk to her stylist, but it seemed like she would not make it home anytime soon.

She took her phone once again and used only five characters to answer him: _Okay._

She took a deep breath and sent the message.

She knew she should not be hoping everything would go back to the way it was, she knew she would get hurt, but was it not better to hope for the better than to expect the worst?

* * *

Austin anxiously walked in the corridor that led to his room. He decided that what his teacher said was true; he needed to stop being a baby and be mature about the situation he put himself in.

He realized that avoiding the problem was not a solution, at all. Besides, he needed to pass his music class, and that was the only way to do it.

Also, something was slowly making him believe that Ally was genuine about her feelings and that she did not try to play him.

He couldn't not notice how devastated she looked and how hurt she seemed. He could see she was not getting much sleep, and, from all her attempts at making him understand how she felt, he could feel that she really was trying to get him to forgive her. She really wanted him back.

He took a couple of deep breaths to slow his heartbeat down and he stared through the nearest window, waiting for Ally to arrive.

She did answer him, and she told him she would come. He wanted to make peace with her, and he wanted to be mature about this. His music teacher made him realize that he might have been unreasonable about the situation, and that ignoring Ally would not solve the problem.

His ears almost perked u like a dog when he heard the faint knock on the front door. He ran down the stairs immediately and stood in front of the door. He took one last deep breath and then rubbed his hands on his jeans to get rid of the excess of sweat.

He opened the door and faintly smiled at her.

"Hi," he awkwardly said.

"Hey," Ally answered, unsure of Austin's facial expressions.

They stared at each other awkwardly for a fraction of a second and then Austin moved out of the way so Ally could enter his house.

Surprisingly, she was not wearing her wig, but she was wearing a hoodie with the hood on, and some huge sunglasses. She did not want to be recognized after all.

After asking Austin to close the blinds, so no one could see her in his house, she took the hoodie and the sunglasses off, and sat in the living room, where the piano also was.

"I've been doing some thinking," Austin said calmly as he stared in front of him instead of Ally. "And I think I've overreacted a little bit."

Ally's jaw dropped.

She couldn't believe Austin was finally apologizing to her, but, mostly, forgiven her for her mistakes.

Seeing she wasn't saying anything, Austin continued. "I decided to be civilized about this. Our music teacher reminded me that we will not always work with people we get along with, and that I need to be professional."

"Oh, so this is just for the project?" Ally said in a low tone, and a rather disappointed one.

"Yes, Ally, this is just for the project," Austin said. "I'm not interested in getting back together with you at the moment."

His tone was calm, and, for once, he wasn't attacking her. She felt that he was not ready to be in a relationship with her again. For once, she knew he was telling her what he truly felt.

"So, you're saying that there is a possibility that we could go back to where we were someday?" Ally asked, hope filling her voice.

"I don't know," Austin said truthfully. "I'm really confused at the moment."

Austin looked at the ground in front of him, as if he was too embarrassed to speak anymore.

Ally, being Ally, put her hand on his leg reassuringly. Austin moved his head to look at her hand. He was shocked, but it seemed like he was battling himself over something, but Ally couldn't tell exactly what it was.

"Just know that I am truly sorry about hurting you," Ally told him, as she felt him receptive for once. "I never meant to hurt you. I wanted to tell you the truth, but I was scared of your reaction. I meant it when I said I loved you."

After hearing those words, Austin took Ally's hand off his leg, stood and walked to the piano.

"We should start rehearsing if we want to be decent tomorrow," he said, completely ignoring what Ally had just told him.

"Alright," Ally said as she walked to the piano and sat down besides Austin.

This time, Ally stuck to playing the piano while Austin sung. She sometimes accompanied him to harmonize the song, but it was nothing more than that.

Their rehearsal was strictly from a professional perspective. There weren't any mishaps, and if their hands brushed by accident, Austin just pulled it away and continued singing without making anything out of it. He really did not want Ally to distract him. He knew he needed to pass that assignment, and he knew that he acted like a child before. He was not ready to leave everything that happened behind him though.

He did enjoy her company though; it made him even more confused. She was fun to hang out with, when she was not acting like a diva. They had laughed a lot during their rehearsal, and it felt good.

Their song was now complete and they knew exactly how to perform it during their music class the day after.

"I think we can call it a night," Austin said as he stood and stretched his legs for a bit. "We've rehearsed it like ten times, we're ready."

"You can never rehearse too much," Ally said as she chuckled.

"Coming from the person who arrived late to her own shows and did not rehearse because she couldn't be bothered," Austin said playfully as he nudged her shoulder.

"People change!" Ally defended, smiling.

"Why though?" Austin asked and Ally raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why did you act that way?"

"Fame got to my head, I guess," Ally said.

"It's more than that," Austin said. "You know you can trust me."

"Can I?" Ally asked seriously.

"Yes," Austin answered, looking into her eyes.

"The pressure was too much to handle," Ally answered. "At first, I thought it was because I was new to the whole fame thing, but as I progressed and made more music, people expected more and more from me. They wanted me to record and release more music, to perform more shows, to be on more talk shows, to do more interviews, more meets and greets, and I couldn't take it anymore. People wanted me to be perfect all the time, so I snapped and tried to reject perfection. The only way I was able to do that was to act like a total asshole. At first, I did not like how people reacted, but then I found a weird sense of accomplishment when people got mad because of what I did. It was my way to get back at them for making me feel like crap."

Austin listened to everything Ally had to say and found himself feeling sorry for her, he had never seen fame like that before. He knew it was not easy, but he did not think it was that awful.

"They sent me here hoping I would change. I really thought they just wanted to punish me at first, but now I know they were doing this for my own good." Ally said to Austin. "I was afraid to tell you who I really was, because of how you said you hated the real me. Besides, I did not want to make you go through what I have to go through as a popstar. If the paparrazies saw us together, they would not leave you alone. I really did not want you to live that."

Austin was a bit shocked by what she had just admitted to him. It made him realize that she was a normal human being, and not a diva born to annoy everyone. He knew that she was being genuine at that moment, and he was glad that she trusted him enough to tell him how she really felt. He knew she had no one to talk to when she was living in LA and he knew that was far from healthy.

"I'm sorry I treated you like crap before," Austin said, as he looked at the ground, ashamed of his previous actions. "But I meant what I said when I told you I think Ally Dawson is a very talented singer and musician back at the mall. You have raw talent and I've always wished to be as talented."

"Thank you, Austin," Ally said. "That really means a lot coming from you."

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Austin said. "We need to get a good night of sleep."

"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow," Ally answered as she stood and walked to the door.

She walked to her house that night with a huge smile on her face. She might not be in a relationship with Austin anymore, but he was honest with her and it was all she demanded. He listened to what she had to say, and she was ecstatic about that.

Maybe it was better for them to be just friends, for now anyway.

Austin, on the other hand, watch her walk away from his home, content about his rehearsing session with Ally; there was no screaming, only honesty, and that made him happy. He thought that maybe being just friends with Ally was a good idea after. He was hurting himself more by not being honest about his feelings.

When Ally was out of his sight, he called Dez and Trish to tell them how the night went, they had both insisted that he called them. Trish was just a sucker for drama, and Dez was a sucker for love stories, so it both made them happy to hear about Austin and Ally's story.

* * *

The bell rang, and all the students were flowing into their respective classroom. Austin and Ally made it through the swarm of students with the help of security guards that were sent by Ally's label to make sure she was not hurt. There were more and more paparazzies in the school wanting to know every detail of Ally's integration in a normal high school, so it was harder to walk around.

The pair made their way to the back of the class where they sat down to watch and listen to every song written by their colleagues. It was the day every pair would perform their assignment and you could feel the anxiety in the air. Some songs were fantastic, and others were average, but you could see the dedication each pair put in their own production.

After four pairs sang their song in front of the class, Austin and Ally's name were finally called. Surprisingly, their colleagues were not that phased about Emma Jones actually being Ally Dawson. She thought that they might have hated her like Austin did because she was a true bitch before.

"Alright," Ally said as she sat in front of the grand piano. "We will be performing a song we called I feel the love."

"Hope you enjoy it," Austin added as he adjusted the microphone in front of him.

Ally started playing the piano and Austin closed his eyes to concentrate. He would never admit this to Ally, since he was known as a performer at the school, and not a writer, that it still made him a bit nervous for the first couple of lines.

 _I've gone too many nights,  
Chasing the shadows of your silhouette,  
Moving just to survive,  
All that I wanted was to start again,_

 _Stumbling through the crowd,  
Feet lifting off the ground  
Looking for you  
Washing my fear away  
Standing here face to face  
Nothing to lose  
I won't look back now_

As Austin started to sing the chorus he wrote all by himself, he detached the microphone from the stand and walked towards the grand piano so he could sing besides Ally. They were both singing the chorus, since Ally was harmonizing with Austin, and they stared at each other the entire time.

 _I feel the love  
I wanna get to know you  
I feel the love  
Let the past burn into the sun  
I feel the love  
I really want to show you now_

 _I feel the love  
I wanna get to know you  
I feel the love  
Let the past burn into the sun  
Can't get enough  
So much I want to show you now_

Austin made his way back to where the microphone stand was and continued singing the song like he had done that all his life. Performing gave him a rush, and he loved it. He was never as comfortable as he was on stage, after the stress of performing had passed, of course.

 _It's not over tonight,  
stay in this moment we can hide away  
Cos they're gonna turn on the lights  
But we're burning bright  
no we'll never fade_

Stumbling through the crowd,  
Feet lifting off the ground  
Looking for you  
Washing my fear away  
Standing here face to face  
Nothing to lose  
I won't look back now

At this point, the students in the classroom started to clap along the beat of the song and they were all smiling widely. The girls were captivated by the meaning of the songs while the boys seemed to enjoy the rhythm more.

 _I feel the love  
I wanna get to know you  
I feel the love  
Let the past burn into the sun  
I feel the love  
I really want to show you now_

I feel the love  
I wanna get to know you  
I feel the love  
Let the past burn into the sun  
Can't get enough  
So much I want to show you now

The two teenagers knew the end of the song was coming, so Austin walked over to Ally again so they could sing the chorus one last time side by side. The two of them stared into each other's eyes while they sang the last verses. They never let go of each other's gaze, and they did not realize they were inching closer together as the song neared its end.

 _I feel the love  
Can't get enough  
I feel the love  
I really want to show you now  
I feel the love  
I wanna get to know you  
I feel the love  
Let the past burn into the sun  
Can't get enough  
So much I want to show you now_

They sang the last words of the songs and the music gently stopped. They smiled at each other widely and they were interrupted in the stare competition when the teacher spoke.

"Austin, Ally," the teacher said. "That was fantastic. I know miss Dawson has experience with songwriting, but that performance was great!"

"Thank you," Austin said.

"Austin wrote the chorus!" Ally said, trying to give him some credits.

"Well, I'm impressed!" The music teacher said. "I'm glad I paired you up!"

Austin and Ally walked back to their place in the room to listen to the rest of the students' songs. Occasionally, they would glance at each other and smile. Sometimes, hoping the other would not catch them, and sometimes they held a staring contest, for the fun of it.

When the bell rang to indicate the end of that period, Ally caught Austin's arm so they could talk before they had to go their separate way.

"You were phenomenal out there!" Ally said cheerily.

"Thank you, but you were way more incredible!" Austin answered.

"I know!" Ally said to tease the blond.

"Conceited much?" Austin chuckled.

"Seriously though, I think we were great!" Ally said. "We make an incredible team!"

Austin pondered Ally's words for a second. They held so much more meaning than just a work team and he knew it.

"Yeah, we do," he answered.

* * *

 **Hello beautiful people! How have you been? I am now on a two-week vacation, so I have time to write! Yay! I am both sad and happy to announce that the next chapter is going to be the last one! I want to thank you all so much for sticking with this story and reading it until the end. I know I took a long break from it, but I am hoping to get the next chapter out sometime next week! Thank you so so much for reading, reviewing, following and the favourites! It means so much to me!**


	13. Grand Finale

**Grand Finale**

* * *

"So?" Trish asked curiously. "How'd it go?"

"What?" Austin responded, a mouthful of a ham sandwich. His performance with Ally for their music class had happened the period right before lunch, and the two teenagers parted ways when it was over, both of them not knowing what to do with the energy that flowed through them as they performed together. It gave them a rush, something they only felt when they were together. It left Austin very confused about his feelings towards the brunette, and Ally just reinforced her feelings towards the boy during their performance.

" … huh, the performance with she who shall not be named?" Trish specified. Austin swallowed what was left of the sandwich and looked at her with a gaze she would consider rude. If he was being honest, Austin was getting tired of how Trish talked about Ally. He appreciated that she was looking out for him; he could not ask for a better best friend. He knew, deep down, that his story with Ally was far from over. He knew Trish was aware of that too.

"It was great!" Austin answered, happy. "I think we're gonna get a really good grade!"

"That's good to hear!" Dez piped as he sat down next to his best friends.

"No, we were good to hear!" Austin joked. When Austin felt he did something great, he tended to brag a little too much. He could not stop himself. He felt proud and he needed his friends to know.

"You seem pretty happy," Trish said slowly, and suspiciously. She knew the performance involved the popstar who broke his heart and she was afraid her best friend would fall for her again, and get hurt again.

"Well, I had lots of fun performing," Austin stated as if it was the most logical thing in the world. "You know how much I love being on stage."

"Did anything happen between you and Ally?" Trish asked, suspicious.

Austin hesitated before answering which indicated that something did change about his relationship with the popstar. " … No, we just realized that we make a good musical duo. She's good at songwriting and I am good at performing."

"Only that kind of duo?" Trish asked, trying to get information out of Austin. She could feel he was slowly forgiving her.

"What other kind of duo would they be doing?" Dez asked, oblivious to what Trish was insinuating.

Trish raised an eyebrow at Austin who was definitely trying to avoid her question. She knew her best friend too well, and she knew he was keeping something from her.

"Spit it out," Trish demanded.

"I don't think you want to hear what I have to say," Austin said almost inaudibly.

"Why?" Trish asked.

"Because, you pretty much hate Ally, so I don't know what to think," Austin told his best friend and her face fell.

"I hate her, because she hurt you, Austin," Trish said. "She doesn't deserve a guy as sweet as you, and I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I really appreciate that you are looking out for me Trish, you too Dez, but I feel like you're treating Ally unjustly," Austin said slowly, afraid of Trish's reaction. "It is true that she has her bad side, but after we rehearsed last night, I got her to open up to me about her career, and I could feel how much she trusts me. I know she loves me, she's not lying."

"You're right, Austin, I'm just looking out for you," Trish told the blonde. "It is your choice if you want to get back together with her, but I'm scared she'll hurt you again."

"I know, Trish," Austin said. "I don't know what to do either. I don't know if I should ever consider getting back together with her, or just being her friend. What's gonna happen when she leaves Miami? She is from L.A. after all."

"I wish I knew what to tell you, blondie, but I don't," Trish answered truthfully. "Relationships are way more complicated than they appear."

"Ugh, I'm so confused!" Austin shouted.

* * *

"Sweetheart, your manager just booked you an interview on the Helen Show!" Julia cheered as Ally entered her flat after school. Ally was pretty satisfied of her day, so she would spare Julia a little. She did not exactly feel like doing interviews considering her cover was blown, but she knew the media needed answers.

"Why?" Ally asked, surprised by her stylist's declaration, and annoyed because she was not consulted.

"All sorts of rumours have been going around since people found out about you, so he wants you to tell the truth on a talk show," she answered calmly.

"That makes sense," Ally answered. "When is the recording?"

"Actually, you'll be part of a live taping," Julia said.

"Live?" Ally repeated. "Haven't done that in a while on TV."

"It's the day after tomorrow," Julia said. "At seven o'clock at night."

"Alright," Ally answered.

"You'll have to miss your last period to get to the studio," Julia mentioned, and Ally frowned. "Is there something special that specific period?"

" … No," Ally responded.

"Are you sure?" Julia asked, she could tell when Ally was lying.

"It's a music class," she said. "We'll get our grade, and I get to spend time with Austin."

"Right, how did the performance go?" Julia asked. "I'm sure you were phenomenal."

"Yeah, we were," Ally said, smiling stupidly.

"Did anything happen between you and the boy?" Julia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ally looked down and then up to answer her stylist. "No, nothing happened. We just had a blast performing today and rehearsing last night. I think he'll forgive me though."

"Ally…" Julia said carefully.

"What?" Ally asked, knowing she would not like what Julia had to say.

"I know you have hope. I know you want things to go back the way they were, but they will never be the same. I'm really happy if he does forgive you, but don't get your hopes up. It does not mean he wants to start your relationship again."

"I know that, Julia," Ally answered. "I know I've been stupid and that I hurt him, but I wish we could get back together."

"I know, dear, I know," Julia responded. "So, about that interview?"

"I'll be there," Ally said. "It will be nice to clear things up with the media, I've seen so many awful lies on the internet."

* * *

Ally was sitting in front of the vanity in her dressing room and stared at her reflection. To the public, she knew she looked perfect: her makeup was fantastic, her hair was perfectly curled, and her clothes were picked out by Julia, who knew how to make her look splendid and ravishing. For the first time in her life though, it did not satisfy her.

She knew how she looked underneath all of that. She was exhausted and heartbroken. It was all an allure to make the public love her. She was not comfortable looking like she did at that very moment. It all felt like one huge lie, more than when she called herself Emma Jones. Then, she needed a new persona, now, she's reflecting the old Ally Dawson's persona.

As much as it pained her to admit her manager and her parents was right, this adventure at Marino High did help her get more mature and she wasn't sure she would be able to go back to being Ally Dawson full time.

The brunette heard someone faintly knocking on the door behind her. She blinked a couple of times to get the water out of her eyes. She did not realize she was about to cry nor that she was sniffling. She took a couple of seconds to compose herself and opened the door.

"Hey," Julia said as she entered the door. "I just wanted to make a final touched on your makeup."

"Go ahead," Ally said in a high-pitched voice.

"Are you okay?" The stylist asked.

"It doesn't matter," Ally answered, trying to push her thoughts away.

"What's wrong?" Julia asked, clearly noticing how Ally looked distressed.

"I don't know if I wanna do this anymore, Julia," Ally said. "When I was Emma Jones, I did not have the pressure of pleasing the media and everyone around me. I kinda liked that. I want to live like that. Ally Dawson's life, it's so fake. I don't want it anymore."

"Why don't you start fresh, then?" Julia suggested. "This is your chance, you've been out of the spotlight for months. Show them that Ally Dawson had changed. That she's now caring and down to Earth."

"You're right," Ally said. "This is my chance to start all over."

* * *

Austin, Trish and Dez were hanging out near the lockers and joking around. The blonde expected Ally to turn up eventually, but she never did. He thought it was strange since they had their next class together. He saw her earlier in the morning, but she did not say she was leaving early, or maybe she was already in class talking to the teacher or something.

"Austin?" Dez said. "Did you hear what I just say?"

"Huh?" The blonde reacted.

"Are you okay?" Trish asked.

"Oh, I'm just," he started, "I was just wondering where Ally was."

"Oh," Trish reacted. She did not exactly know what to say, since she did not exactly know where Austin and ally stood relationship-wise.

"She's probably already in class," Austin suggested to his friends.

As Dez was about to repeat what he said to Austin, the bell rang, and the group of friends had to separate so everyone could attend their last class of the day.

Austin entered the music class and sat down to his usual spot, and Ally would usually sit next to him, but she was not there. Students filled the room, and there were still no signs of Ally. Austin was not sure if he should have felt worried, or just not care. It was not surprising that she skipped class after all.

The teachers handed in the grades for the performance and Austin was proud to say he and Ally had gotten an A. He texted Ally to tell her the good news, but he got no answer.

The rest of the class went by super quickly, and it was not long until Austin found himself in his house, eating dinner. He had a normal chat with his parents and helped with the dishes like he usually did.

After that, he went up to his room to do some homework when Trish called him.

"Hey Trish," Austin answered cheerfully.

"I found Ally," Trish said excitedly.

"Where is she?" The boy asked.

"Open your TV to the Helen Show," Trish said.

"Okay," Austin stretched the word.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, the amazing, Ally Dawson!" Helen announced as she danced on the set.

The crowd erupted into applause and cheers as Ally came on the set from backstage. She waved to everyone and tried to pop a dance move here and there to fit into the show's theme.

"Ally," Helen said. "Welcome. It's been so long since I've last seen you!"

"Well, I haven't exactly been active lately," Ally stated.

"That's true. That's very true," Helen said.

There was a short awkward silence before Helen spoke again. "So, Ally, tell me, is it true that you went back to Miami to find your long-lost twin sister?"

"What?" Ally asked, surprised. "No. That's not why I went to Miami."

"Is it because you were under a witness protection program?" Helen asked.

"No. Not at all." Ally said. "Are you making this stuff up?"

"Well, yeah," Helen said. "No one knows the truth, so we just make horrible guesses and hope for the best!"

Ally smiled awkwardly and faked a laugh.

"Why did you go to Miami under a new identity?" Helen asked.

The popstar sighed and collected her thoughts before speaking again. "I was forced to go to Miami with a new identity because I was a brat and a jerk."

Helen raised an eyebrow, but indicated for her to continue.

"My manager and my parents had had enough of my behaviour." Ally admitted. "They gave me an ultimatum: either I go to Miami or they end my career right away. I hated their idea, but I also hated the idea of my career being over, so I went along with it."

"Do you regret it?" Helen asked, trying to make her spill the details.

"No, not at all," Ally assured Helen. "They were right to do that. I was being a real b, not to say the complete word on live TV. I deserved that."

"You did?" Helen asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes. I was an unreasonable jerk and thought the world was wrapped around my little finger. It did me some good to be away from the cameras and the spotlight for a couple of months. I think I've matured a little, or, at least, I think I've realized how lucky I am to have my career." The popstar admitted without any shame.

"What was it like, to be a normal high school student?" Helen asked as everyone was probably wondering the same thing.

"At first, it was incredibly awful," Ally said. "I hated all of it. After a while, I made some friends, which made me feel better. We hung out a bit and I got to enjoy the normal student life."

"That's great to hear!" Helen piped up. "Did you work on any music while in Miami?"

"Not really, only for one of my classes," Ally answered truthfully.

"Will we ever get to hear that?" Helen asked.

"I don't know," Ally answered.

"You could perform here, tonight, that would be awesome!" Helen suggested, and the crowd cheered.

"We'll see if we have time later," Ally said, feeling uncomfortable. The only song she wrote was the one she performed with Austin.

"Alright," Helen said. "Now that your identity has been revealed, are you going back to L.A.?"

"I don't know yet," Ally answered truthfully. "I think I want to finish the school year."

"Really?" Helen asked. "Any particular reason?"

"Well, I think it's helped me learn to be thankful for what I have, but I think I still have some things to learn about myself before going back to being a popstar. Maybe I'll take some time off and write an album like I did when I first started." Ally explained truthfully.

"So, we should expect new music in the following year?" Helen asked.

"Maybe, I don't know. I guess I'll live one day at a time for now," Ally answered.

* * *

"Now, the crowd would kill me if I didn't ask this question," Helen said, and Ally knew it was coming. She knew how much the public wanted to know about her personal life. "Did you meet someone special during your stay in Miami?"

Austin was in front of the television in his room and waited for Ally's answer. What was she going to say? Was she going to admit everything? Was she going to mention his name?

"I met many special people in Miami, whom all helped me a lot," Ally answered.

"Come on, you know that is not what we all want to know," Helen said carefully.

"Yes," Ally said. Austin's eyes widened as she pronounced the word. "I have met someone who made me see the good side of life. He has helped me so much without even realizing it."

"Do tell," Helen demanded.

"At first, we pretty much hated each other. He had every reason to, I was still a brat," Ally said, and Austin laughed. "We were forced to do this music project together. It didn't exactly work out in the beginning. We weren't listening to each other's suggestions. After a while, there was a lot of tension between us. I kissed him on impulse and that made everything awkward. We had our ups and downs, and then we finally truly connected and started dating. I had made an enemy though, and the night he found out about my real identity, she was not too far away and saw the real me. She's the one who exposed me to the media. He was really mad at me for lying about who I really am. We decided to be civil for the music project and things are looking up now. It is still a bit awkward, but it's better. And, he texted me earlier, and we got an A on our project, so, that's that."

Helen looked at Ally trying to take in everything she had just said. Normally, in interviews, Ally was always being vague and did not show a sign of caring about the interview. This was new for Helen, but also for the viewers and the public.

Austin stared at his television completely dumbfounded. Ally had just explained to the world what their relationship was like and he was not sure how he felt about that. At least, he knew she got his text.

"Would you say you're in love with him?" Helen asked, expecting her question to be ignored.

"Yes," Ally answered without hesitation.

Helen's mouth dropped, but, most importantly, Austin's jaw dropped as she admitted to the world that she was in love with him, and meant it. He knew she meant it.

The interview kept on going for a couple of minutes, but Austin could not concentrate considering Trish called him only to squeal about what had happened.

"Ally, we have five more minutes before the next guest arrives, would you perform your song for us?" Helen asked again.

Ally nodded and walked to the small stage where a piano and a mic sat.

"We haven't recorded it, so I need to play the piano at the same time," Ally said. She turned to the audience. "This song is called I Feel the Love and it was written by my amazing partner and me."

Austin couldn't look away from the TV. Ally sang the song so beautifully and it made him realize how genuine she was around him.

"Trish!" Austin exclaimed as he was still on the phone with her. "I need to get to the studio Ally is at as soon as possible."

"It's like ten blocks from here, we'll call a cab," Trish said.

It took the cab ten minutes to get to Austin's place and twenty minutes to get to the studio. Austin was praying he would get there before Ally left. He ran to the entrance of the building and tried to make his way to what he believed was Ally's dressing room.

Unfortunately, the security was not going to let a teenage boy in the studio when they had no idea who he was.

"What's going on?" A woman's voice asked as Austin heard footsteps.

"Helen," one of the security guards said. "This boy is trying to get to Miss Dawson's dressing room."

"Who are you?" Helen asked.

"Hi, Helen, big fan, huh, I'm Austin Moon," he stuttered. "I'm the boy that wrote the song with Ally."

"Really?" The woman asked. "We'll see about that."

The security guards took Austin to Ally's dressing room, but stayed by his side while Helen was following behind.

"Miss Dawson," a security guard said as he knocked on the door. "Someone would like to see you."

"Come in," Ally said.

Austin opened the door and was followed by the two men and Helen.

"Hey," he said shyly.

"Austin, what are you doing here?" Ally asked, definitely surprised.

"I watched your interview earlier today," Austin said.

"Everyone, please get out," Ally said. "Don't worry, he's the boy I was talking about during the interview."

Everyone did as ordered, and left the room. Austin turned around to face Ally, but she motioned for the to sit on the couch.

"Thank you, for broadcasting our song to the world," Austin said. "It means a lot to me."

"You know I meant every single word I said during the interview, right?" Ally asked, unrelated to what Austin had just said.

"Of course, I do," Austin said. "I would not have come here if I didn't."

"Does it mean you feel the same?" Ally asked with a twinkle of hope and happiness in her eyes.

"It means I'm willing to give us a second chance," Austin said.

"Seriously?" Ally asked as her smile grew wider.

"I might have treated you unjustly. I mean, you have lied to me, but I understand why you did. Our relationship did feel genuine and I think it would be unfair to give all this up," Austin said truthfully, and Ally blushed at his statement.

"I'm so sorry that I hurt you Austin, I seriously never thought I would fall in love while being in Miami, but I did, and I am glad I did, and I am going to stay until the end of the year. We'll just have to deal with the paparazzies and the press," Ally said.

"I know, I'm ready for that," Austin said.

"May I kiss you now?" Ally asked.

"I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

 **Well, that is it, that is it. The last chapter of this story. I'm sorry I took so long to get this chapter out. This semester has been crazy, and I was exhausted. I finally found the motivation to write again before the next semester starts. I hope you guys enjoyed this story and this chapter. I want to thank you all so much for your support. It means so so much to me. You have no idea. I love you all! Peace out :)**


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